Marilyn Etchison

Marilyn Cotton Etchison, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, aunt, teacher and friend, died after a brief illness at 4 AM April 19, 2024 at home in Avalon Village in Hampden, Maine. She was surrounded by her family and caregivers. Many devoted caregivers and medical professionals cared for her and assisted the family over the years.

Marilyn grew up in Elwood, the daughter of Evelyn Fisher Cotton and Dr. Perry Everingham Cotton. She was predeceased by her six sisters, Jo Ann Seright, Nancy Jane Hill, Carol Fisher Cotton Frye, Joyce Cotton Ruby, Alice Marie Knotts and Linda Evelyn Speer. Marilyn spent many memorable summers with her Grandma Emma Ruhama “Amy” and Grandpa William Beatty Fisher on the family farm in Wolcott. Her paternal grandparents were Dr. Carrol Charles and Stella Everingham Cotton of Elwood.

Marilyn graduated from Wendell Willkie High School in 1952. Marilyn belonged to Debate Club, Crescent, Booster Club, Latin Club, and the National Honor Society. She then earned an A.B. from Indiana University in English with a minor in French in 1956 and earned her master’s degree in education from Butler University in 1971. As an educator, she taught high school English, speech, debate, and directed plays in Noblesville, Kempton, and Tipton.

Marilyn was a member of Mortar Board; Future Teachers of America; Pamarada; Union Committee Chairmen; Contest Alumni on Campus; and she was President of the IU Foundation Steering Committee responsible for the Little 500 bicycle race. She was the Office Manager for the IU Yearbook, the Arbutus; a member of the Association of Women Students Council (AWS Council); Chair of the Women’s Residence Hall (WRH) Judicial Board; and the YWCA State Chairman. Marilyn traveled to Berkeley, California as Indiana State Chair of the YWCA. In Tipton, she was a member of the Tri Kappa sorority, served on the Tipton County Public Library board, and belonged to the Normanda Christian Church.

Surviving Marilyn is her husband, Dallas Franklin Etchison, who was married to Marilyn for 65 years. Marilyn and Dallas built a second home in Maine in 2005, then moved permanently in 2011, after spending 50 years of their marriage on their farm in Tipton County near Goldsmith.

Marilyn was a devoted mother to Diana Etchison Prescott, also of Hampden, Maine and Kathleen Etchison, of Manassas, Virginia. Diana is married to David Prescott, and her children are Rachel, of Memphis, TN; Meredith, of Washington, DC; and Eleanor, of Orono, ME. Kathleen is married to Thomas Andahl, and her children are Connor and Marta. Marilyn was very close to her numerous nieces and nephews.

Marilyn made friends wherever she went and was an incredibly optimistic person. She loved flowers and enjoyed gardening, reading, music, dancing, cooking, and art. Marilyn enjoyed traveling, saving her money when first teaching for a special trip to Europe.

A celebration of Dallas and Marilyn’s lives will be held on October 19 at The Barn at Homestead Farm, 6733 West State Road 28 in Tipton, Indiana, and they will be buried together in the Tetersburg Cemetery.

Memorial gifts can be forwarded to the Tipton County Foundation, 1020 Jefferson Street, Tipton, IN 46072 or tiptoncf.org for a scholarship to be established in her name.

Young-Nichols Funeral Home is assisting with arrangements.