The sweet, beautiful, bright, creative and loving wife, mother and Nonnie, passed away at home in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, in the arms of love, Friday night, February 23, 2024, at the age of 76.
Marilyn Brown Matejcek was born in Kansas City, Missouri, on October 31, 1947 to Wanda and Leslie Brown. She grew up in an environment full of love and music. Her father won a piano and it became the center of family gatherings. Many of those gatherings have survived as vinyl recordings. One of those recordings has Marilyn at two years old pounding on her own toy piano and singing with her father. The piano won by her father has remained part of family gatherings for 70+ years, played not only by Marilyn, but by her children and grandchildren.
Marilyn went to Northeast High School in Kansas City, where she was a proud member of the National Honor Society, the Student Council and the Clionian Literary Society. She acted in multiple school plays and wrote for multiple school publications. After graduation, she was married and had her three daughters before entering the workforce.
During Marilyn's professional life, she worked in the public sector, in technology and in non-profit. The common threads through it all were her communication skills and her ability to connect with people, born out of her genuine love of humanity. A love that showed through even in her last years as she navigated through the grip of Alzheimer's.
Prior to retirement, Marilyn worked for the City of Jacksonville Beach in Florida, responsible for special events and public relations. She came to that position after working on the campaign to elect Bill Latham as mayor. He recruited Marilyn to help implement his vision of a revitalized city. Marilyn contributed to that vision by helping to actualize a family friendly town center. To that end, she created, collaborated on and revitalized events to better serve and attract families. Events included the Moonlight Movies, the Mother's Day Concert with the Jacksonville Symphony, the 4th of July celebration, the Summer Jazz Series and the Dr. Seuss Read-a-thon.
In her public relations role, Marilyn gained the trust of local business people and was often the face of the city for them. So much so that a Times Union reporter used "Go Ask Marilyn" as the headline for an article about City Hall. That because it was the response he received repeatedly in his interviews of staffers there.
Prior to that, Marilyn worked in multiple technology consulting firms doing account management and marketing to Fortune 500 companies in and around New York and New Jersey. Her earlier experiences included writing and promotional efforts for non-profits that were near and dear to her heart, including the Ronald McDonald House and The Nature Conservancy.
Still the center of Marilyn's life was always family. Her three daughters were a source of pride and joy and she greatly anticipated being elevated to Grandma status. When she saw no grandkids on the horizon, she considered bribing sons-in-law. However, soon the dry spell
passed and six grandchildren enriched her life. There were times that following a full day of directing performers, security personnel and vendors for a weekend festival, Marilyn finished after midnight and jumped into her car to drive 7-9 hours to be at a grandchild's birth.
Those six grandchildren came to call her Nonnie. In addition to spoiling grandchildren individually, she realized her vision of having what she called "Camp Nonnie" where she got all six together for a weekend sleepover with her at home. There she engaged them in things that were both great fun and learning experiences.
Capitalizing on being born on Halloween, Marilyn convinced her young daughters she was a witch. Every Halloween night, she explained she would be taking them on a trip around the moon on her broomstick after they fell asleep. She continued this tradition with her grandchildren, calling them the morning after every Halloween and explaining they were probably tired from their annual flight around the moon.
She and her husband also had great adventures together, many of which were centered around their sailboat "Secret Dreams," that they berthed in St. Augustine for 25 years. They frequently sailed up and down the coast from St. Augustine, plus made voyages to both the Bahamas and Bermuda. Marilyn learned to take night watches with confidence, sailing while her husband slept below deck.
After Marilyn was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, she and her husband renewed their wedding vows, surrounded by family. Even in her years of decline, she continued to add to the joy in the world by stopping complete strangers to give them a hug and maybe even a kiss on the cheek. She has caused quite a stir more than once this way, both on the beach and at the local grocery store. She truly was a beautiful soul.
Marilyn leaves behind: husband Fred W. Matejcek, daughters, Leslie Vincent and husband Greg, Allison Janicki and husband Bernie, Heather Williams and husband Jeff, plus stepson Steven Matejcek and wife Jenna, stepdaughter Ann Yaworsky and husband Eddie, those six grandchildren: Alder Narron, Carter Williams, Morgan Matejcek, Abby Williams, Talyn Narron and Luke Williams, plus sister Janice Pickering and husband George, and the father of her children, Alan Doty.
Marilyn was cremated and memorial services are being planned for later in both Jacksonville Beach, FL, her home of 32 years, and her place of birth, Kansas City, Missouri.
To honor Marilyn's memory and in lieu of flowers, please "pay it forward", as did she. Not many of us can get away with hugging strangers as Marilyn could, but we can all find ways to provide some random acts of kindness in her honor. Even a smile can make someone’s day. To quote a Jewel song, “In the end, only kindness matters”.
