Marilyn Phyllis Beukers

1936 - 2018

Marilyn Phyllis Beukers

Vero Beach, FL

Marilyn P. Beukers, a resident of Vero Beach, Florida, passed away peacefully on October 25th, 2018. She was born in Passaic, New Jersey on March 2nd, 1936 to Marion and Albert Katus. Marilyn studied voice and drama in the preparatory department of the Hartt College of Music in Hartford, Connecticut and graduated from the University of Rochester where she majored in English and Voice at the Eastman School of Music. In 1958, she married John Beukers and lived briefly in Rochester and Nutley, New Jersey before settling in Stony Brook, New York. When John started Beukers Laboratories in 1963, Marilyn was at his side and ran the administration and promotion functions until the business was sold in 1984. Marilyn's passion was music and performance and while in Rochester she took leading roles with the Rochester Chamber Opera, the Rochester Theatre Guild, Eastman Productions and the Victorians. She played Bianca in Kiss Me Kate, Gretel in Hansel and Gretel, Despina in Cose Fan Tutte, Bastienne in Bastien and Bastienne and Rosina in the Barber of Seville. Joining the Carriage House Players in Stony Brook, NY, Marilyn played Julie in Carousel and Marion in The Music Man, and with the Long Island Symphonic Choral Association under Gregg Smith, was soprano soloist in Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610, Benjamin Britten's Ceremony of Carols, and played the part of Charlie in the premier of William Schuman's baseball opera, The Mighty Casey. Marilyn also played the leading roles in Gilbert and Sullivan's operettas Trial by Jury and Iolanthe. Other solo work included the American premier of Lukas Foss's Lamdeni performed in the Merkin Concert Hall, Liszt's Missa Choralis in St. Patrick's Cathedral and the obscure, rarely performed Funeral Anthem on the Death of Queen Caroline by Handel. Later, when Marilyn and John shared their time between England and Vero Beach, she joined the Burford Singers, Oxfordshire and the Vero Beach Choral Society. In addition to her formal performances Marilyn was an active member of the choir at Caroline Church, Setauket, NY, St. James' Church in Longborough, England, and Trinity Episcopal Church in Vero Beach. Throughout her life she took her singing talent to entertain senior citizens as well as the sick in hospital; more generally Marilyn brought joy and laughter into every life that she touched. Marilyn is survived by her husband John, children Christopher (Alice) and Catherine (Uwe), sister Kathleen Vande (Mark) and four grandchildren. She was interred in a private ceremony on November 3rd, 2018 at Trinity Episcopal Church in Vero Beach. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be sent in the name of Marilyn Beukers to The VNA Hospice House in Vero Beach and to Trinity Episcopal Church.