Marilyn Joan Atkinson, age 93, formerly of Pollock, S.D. passed away Oct. 12, 2024 at the Good Samaritan Society Center in Oakes, N.D., where she had been living since November of 2018.

A celebration of life memorial service will be held at 11 a.m., Monday, Oct. 21, at the Pollock Memorial Presbyterian Church in Pollock, with the Rev. Floyd Haan officiating.

Always smiling and happy, Marilyn was a person who was kind to everyone she met. Even in her later years in both the Mobridge Care Center and then Good Samaritan Center, Oakes, ND, she would never forget to smile and thank staff for anything they would do for her.

Marilyn loved cooking for her family. Her children, grandchildren and friends will attest that she as an outstanding cook, very seldom using a recipe. She truly enjoyed hosting the many holiday meals and gatherings for her children and grandchildren over the years at their Pollock home.

On her 80th birthday, her grandchildren (and their spouses) created a booklet of photos, memories of her and their favorite recipes their grandmother had made for them. Her granddaughter, Amy (Atkinson) Joy, wrote in that booklet: “We have you to thank for the tradition of all the made-from-scratch cooking, delicious sweets and piles and piles of food we have at every family function. You’ve played such an important part in shaping this family into what it is today – filled with so much love, tons of laughter and a whole lot of food.”

Granddaughter Jennifer (Murphy) Porish wrote in the booklet about her cooking for family: “Over the years I have known her, I can’t think of one occasion when she has complained about this task and that is because she loves to do it. This love of cooking and pleasing people through food has now been passed down three generations.”

Marilyn loved being on the water, boating and fishing with her husband, Gordon, and other family members. The family has an area just west of Pollock with cabins and campers that Gordon and Marilyn so enjoyed being there with their family before entering the care center in Mobridge.

She also loved music, singing in the choir for years at the Pollock Memorial Presbyterian Church, and like her father, was an artist, something very few people knew about her. After graduating high school, she took a correspondence art course and then attended one year at South Dakota State College in Brookings S.D., majoring in art. Her children cherish some of the art she created.

Marilyn was born Nov. 17, 1930 in Mobridge, S.D., to Harold and Thelma Carlson of Pollock.

In 1936, Harold and Thelma moved to Mankato, Minn. (Thelma’s hometown), where Harold worked as a salesman for the Pillsbury Flour Company. The company later transferred him to Aberdeen, S.D., then Worthington, Minn., and then back to Mankato.

In 1943, the family moved to Portland, Ore., where both Harold and Thelma worked in the shipyards during the war and Marilyn attended school. Harold built cabinets on ships and Thelma worked as a taper, taping asbestos insulation into the walls of ships during construction. After the war, the family moved back to Pollock, where the family farmed along Spring Creek west of Pollock on the fertile Missouri River bottom land. They later moved into the town of old Pollock, where her father had a carpentry shop. Marilyn graduated from Pollock High School in 1948.

On Sept. 4, 1950 she married Gordon Atkinson, son of Wesley and Florence Atkinson of Pollock. They were married 69 years when Gordon died in 2019 and during most of those years, they work side-by-side.

When the Town of Pollock was moved, Gordon and Marilyn’s house was one of the first homes moved from old Pollock to the new town.

When the Town of Pollock was moved to make way for the Oahe Reservoir in the 1950s, her father started Carlson Manufacturing, a cabinet making company in the new town and her husband, Gordon, joined as a carpenter and she helped stain the cabinets. The company later added manufacturing of fiberglass boats (which Gordon helped build) as people began to enjoy the new Lake Pocasse, which covered the area where the old town was previously located. During that time, Marilyn worked for the Pollock Pioneer newspaper.

In 1965, Carlson Manufacturing was closed and in the same building, the Carlsons and Gordon and Marilyn opened Pollock Super Valu, a grocery store, meat market and butcher shop, where Marilyn worked in many facets of the business. She and Gordon later took over sole ownership of the business from the Carlsons.

After a fire destroyed the inside of the store in 1978, they rebuilt, opening only the custom butcher shop. A few years later, they closed the meat market. In semi-retirement, Gordon and Marilyn worked part-time in the mailroom at the Mobridge Tribune before fully retiring. They lived in Pollock until 2017, when they became residents of the Mobridge Care and Rehabilitation Center in Mobridge. When that center closed, they moved to the care center in Oakes, where their daughter, Lori Kunrath, and her family live.

Marilyn was very active in the community and the Pollock Memorial Presbyterian Church, where she sang in the church choir for many years. She was also a member of the Pollock Jaycettes, church Circle and the Stateline Snowmobile Club.

Marilyn was preceded in death by her husband, her parents, her younger brother, Robert, and her half-sister, Phyllis Walker.

She is survived by: Her son Larry (Roberta) Atkinson of Cape Coral, Fla.; her daughter, Lynn (Mark) Murphy of Aberdeen, S.D.; her daughter Lori (Tim) Kunrath of Oakes, N.D.; her grandsons, Corey (Jennifer) Atkinson of Sioux Falls, S.D., Jordan (Stephanie) Murphy of West Fargo, N.D., and Matthew Kunrath of Oakes, N.D.; her granddaughters, Jennifer (Kyle) Porisch of Huron, S.D., Amy (Josh) Joy of West Fargo, N.D., JoAan (Jason) Fuhrer of Fruit Heights, Utah, Lisa (Jason) Fuccello of Sioux Falls, S.D., and Michelle (Jarret) Schroeder of Oakes, N.D.; two sisters-in-law, Margie Atkinson of Richfield, Minn. and Jean Atkinson of Rockford, Minn. She is also survived by 13 great grandsons and six great granddaughters.

Marilyn’s cremated remains will be interred Monday, Oct. 21, along with her husband’s, at Spring Valley Cemetery north of Pollock.

Kesling Funeral Home of Mobridge is in charge of the arrangements.

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