Marilyn Kay Willacker

08/13/1936 - 02/02/2026

Marilyn Kay Willacker, 89, of Whitehall, passed away Monday, February 2, 2026, at Christian Care Assisted Living in Muskegon. She was born August 13, 1936, in Muskegon, the daughter of Orville and Katherine (Jansen) Anderson.
On June 25, 1955, Marilyn married Walter Francis Willacker and they were blessed with 4 children and 62 years of marriage. Marilyn started out raising her family then started taking care of the children of her extended family and friends as well as cleaning houses. She then worked for over ten years and retired from the Whitehall Elementary School, first as a playground monitor and later as an aide in the reading development program where she truly loved teaching children to read.
In her spare time, Marilyn enjoyed gardening, growing fruits and vegetables for her family and beautiful legacy flowers dating back several generations. Marilyn also enjoyed cooking, especially the old family recipes including her delicious potato salad. She learned how to make it from Grandma Helen Willacker and in turn passed the secrets on to the next two generations of Willackers.
Above all, faith and her church, Bible Standard Ministries were the most important to her.
Second only to her faith was family, including her large extended families. It is a well known fact that Aunt Marilyn (and Great Aunt and Great-Great Aunt) was everyone's favorite Aunt. She always had time for everyone: friend, family, and stranger alike, and would give them her undivided attention and love. When you spoke with her you knew you were loved. Her Jansen cousins were extremely dear to her and were her best friends from childhood through their entire lives. She cherished the weekly "Cousin Breakfasts" that brought several of them together frequently for many years.
Marilyn is survived by: her children, Gene Willacker, Dan (Blanca) Willacker, Jack (Wanda) Willacker and Sharon (Mike) DeWall; her grandchildren, Ruben Torrez, Kyle (Jentry) Willacker, Tim (Casey) Bazany, Allyssa (Chris) Burch, Calandra Bazany, Nicole (Dewey) Bultsma, and Katelyn (Ryan) Peck; her granddaughter-in-law, Nickole Willacker; her great-grandchildren, Grayson, Liam, Ethan, Isabella, Mia, Jenna, Lukas, Hayden, Isaac, Avery, Rylee and Lennon; her sister, Arlene Smith; and her sister-in-law, Lois Peterson.
Marilyn was preceded in death by: her husband, Walter Willacker in 2018; her grandson, Ryan Willacker in 2025; and her brother, Roger Anderson.
Funeral Services will be conducted at 12:00 PM, Saturday, February 7, 2026, at Beacon Cremation & Funeral Service, White Lake Chapel, 413 S. Mears Avenue, Whitehall. Interment will be in Oakhurst Cemetery in the spring. Visitation will be held Saturday from 11:00 AM until time of services at the funeral home.
Memorial contributions in lieu of floral tributes may be made to Whitehall District Schools childhood reading development in her honor.
Beacon Cremation & Funeral Service is in charge of arrangements.
www.beaconfh.com