Marilyn M. Woolridge

Marilyn M. Dawson Woolridge died December 12, 2020. She was born on April 18, 1927 in Vermillion, South Dakota, the daughter of Joseph Charles Dawson IV and Mabel Geneva Armstrong Dawson. Marilyn graduated from Vermillion High School in 1945 and attended the University of South Dakota.  She studied Home Economics Education. She met Donald Ellis Woolridge at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, South Dakota.  They were married in Vermillion on June 15, 1952.  They were happily married for 49 years.

Don and Marilyn moved to Ida Grove, Iowa in 1952.  Don worked at the lumberyard and Marilyn was a stay at home wife.  They moved to Battle Creek, Iowa when Don was hired as a teacher at Battle Creek, Iowa.  Jeffrey Todd was born in 1955 and Pamela Lynn in 1958. In 1964 the family moved to Sioux City, Iowa where Don started teaching 7^th Grade Math at West Junior High School.  After their kids started high school and college, Marilyn re-entered employment first at Younkers, next at a vending company and then on to Shopko to the remainder of her career.  She and Don later assisted Pamela in the Before and After School Age Care Program through the YMCA.  They enjoyed working with the kids at the program and thought it was fun to work together too.  Marilyn was actively involved in her kid’s lives.  She took them to music lessons, piano lessons, boy and girl scouts, dance lessons and Civil Air Patrol.  In school for the kids she was always participating in homeroom activities, bringing treats, chaperoning etc.  Later in middle school she prepared snacks for Donald’s classes as well as the kids classes.  She was involved in fundraising for camping and also band uniforms.  She never missed any of the kid’s activities. Marilyn could be found around the sewing machine making dresses for special choir groups.  She also enjoyed cooking for the family.  She would always have dinner on the table at 4 p.m., so Don could eat and be on to his after school activity working at the rental shop and later at his television repair shop.  One of her favorite family activities was traveling in the summer.  Marilyn saw to it that the car was packed and the kids were ready to go whether it was an adventure to the Black Hills with numerous friends or relatives along for the trip, a family vacation out east, or just a quick trip to Vermillion to visit her Mother and sister.   Sometimes she would take the kids and go visit her sister Bettie in Ames.  She loved spending time with her family.  She wouldn’t allow family members to be left alone during the holidays, so she would send Don and the kids to Vermillion to pick up grandma and her sister even though it may be awful weather.  She loved doing crafts and baking and you could always find her searching for new recipes in cookbooks.  She also enjoyed working in the garden, mostly flowers, but she always wanted to find some little treasure and see if she could make it grow.  Finally was her love of animals, she used to talk about riding in her younger days, standing on the back of horses, riding bareback and then all of her dogs and cats that she mothered over the years.  Especially Buddy, her white poodle, he worked with her as Mari, the clown.  They walked in a number of parades and also went to the hospital as a St. Luke’s Caring Clown and other Care Facilities, telling her jokes, singing songs and making all the clients have just even the happiest of moments.  She spent time preparing her costume, Buddy’s costume, putting on her makeup, checking for additional red noses for the clients and getting to the event on time. 

Marilyn and Don loved dancing and played couples bridge, she was also a Deacon at the First Presbyterian Church in Sioux City where she baked cookies for the shut-ins, packed Christmas packages, delivered flowers for the church as well as numerous other activities.  She participated in the Order of the Eastern Star of South Dakota – 44 Juno Chapter in Vermillion.  She volunteered for the American Red Cross teaching swimming lessons well into her 80’s, participated in First Aid Stations and Fire Watch.  She also helped with youth education classes including being the Scrubby Bear Mascot.  She was always ready, willing and able to help those in distress and need.  Later she joined the Siouxland Center for Active Generations where she participated in tap and line dancing, exercise classes, yoga and drum circle.  She also participated in the cruise activities and crafts.  She enjoyed eating lunch at the center and talking to her friends. 

Marilyn’s family includes Jeffrey Todd and Jayna, her son and daughter-in-law, their son Connor, Pamela Lynn and Sergio Carlos, daughter and son-in-law.   She also has numerous nieces and nephews and her two rescue dogs, Little Bit and Sweet Pea.  Marilyn was preceded in death by husband Donald Ellis Woolridge, parents, sister Evelyn Dawson Park Lee, brother Joseph Charles Dawson V, and sister Bettie Dawson Kiser.

Funeral arrangements are being made by Meyer Brothers Colonial Chapel, 3220 Stone Park Blvd, Sioux City, Iowa. A memorial service will be 11:00 am Saturday, September 18, 2021 at First Presbyterian Church, 608 Nebraska Street, Sioux City, Iowa.  Masks are recommended for attendees.  Lunch will follow the memorial service in the basement of the church.  Interment will take place following at Vermillion, SD, Bluff View Cemetery, after the lunch at First Presbyterian Church.  In lieu of flowers, gifts may be directed to: Noah’s Hope in memory of Marilyn Woolridge. Send them to: Noah’s Hope Animal Rescue, 2601 Myrtle Street, Sioux City, Iowa 51103 or First Presbyterian Church, 608 Nebraska Street, Sioux City, IA 51101.