Our beloved mother, wife, grandmother, sister, friend Marilyn Seckinger passed peacefully from this life on January 6.  Marilyn (February 27, 1937-January 6, 2016) was born in Los Angeles to German immigrants Fred and Erna Whyle-Spitz, and grew up in Burbank when busy Buena Vista Street was still a dirt road.  She spoke only German till elementary school.  Family legend has it that when MGM was casting the little German girl in JOURNEY FOR MARGARET, Marilyn was hoisted onto Louis B. Mayer’s desk for an audition.  Alas, she was too intimidated to speak, missing her chance at movie stardom.

At fifteen, she went on a blind date with shy, handsome college student Donald Seckinger, and married him at 18.  Over the next sixty years, they lived in Texas, California, Wyoming and Nevada, had four children, and eventually five grandchildren, provided a loving and supportive home, celebrated their children’s triumphs and successes, weathered heartbreaking losses, and stood by each other through whatever life sent their way.

Marilyn was the quintessential homemaker:  a wonderful cook and creator of elaborate petit four pastries, a skilled seamstress and tailor, a needlepoint and cross-stitch artist.  She was also a dear and loyal friend, an enthusiastic singer and performer, a proud real estate broker and business partner, and a fierce supporter of her family.

We will always remember her belting out the WHITE CHRISTMAS duet “Sisters” (with her Sweet Adeline quartet-mate and dear friend Vera, or with her daughters in the kitchen), producing magical Christmases year after year, cheering on her children at dance recitals, band concerts, basketball games and graduations, and loving us for all she was worth.  She left us in the final hours of the twelfth day of Christmas, savoring her most beloved holiday in the embrace of her family.