Marilyn Louise Glover née Parks
Marilyn Louise Glover née Parks was born July 13, 1963 in Lincoln, Nebraska to John Jacob and Alice N. (Hudson) Parks. An “Air Force Brat,” Marilyn spent her early childhood in many locations around the United States and Europe. After John’s retirement, the family returned to Council Grove, KS. Marilyn graduated from CGHS in 1981 and went on to attend Emporia State University, studying musical theater until the birth of her eldest child. She stayed in Emporia for the next few years, working and eventually meeting Michael Glover whom she married in November 1985. They went on to have an additional three children.
The family moved to Burlington, KS in 1990. There Marilyn became involved at the Community Christian Church, where she acted as both Music and Choir Director, ran the Vacation Bible School program, and taught Sunday night classes to youth. Marilyn was known for her incredible and powerful voice, singing for many weddings, funerals, and other life events of friends, family, and members of the church community over the years. She got goosebumps when she heard a perfect harmony. While in Burlington, she was also involved with her local community theater and relished being able to return to the stage. She was very active with her children’s activities, acting as an assistant troop leader and cookie director for the local Girl Scout troop. Using her background in theater and costuming, she would make excellent Halloween costumes that were the envy of the neighborhood.
Marilyn moved back to the Council Grove area in 2000. Around that time, she decided to go back to school and received a Bachelors in Secondary Education from Emporia State University in 2003. While at ESU, she worked in the theater department’s costume shop, and designed and made costumes for several of the shows and musicals put on during the early 2000s. She moved to Ulysses, KS in 2005 and started teaching Speech, Debate, and Theater classes at the local high school. She also served as the Debate and Forensics teams’ coach and as the teacher sponsor for various other clubs and organizations. After some time in Western Kansas, Marilyn moved back to CG to be closer with family.
A back injury unfortunately prevented her continuing to work, so she spent the next several years enjoying her role as adopted “Mom and Grandma” to many of her children’s friends and their children, passing on her wisdom and hugs to as many people as she could. Big hearted and full of love, it was not unusual for Marilyn to help “stray” people-offering them anything from a place to sleep on her couch to a spot at the dinner table on holidays when they might otherwise be alone.
She met and fell for Ron Scribner in 2016. Both great lovers of music, she loved to listen to him play his guitar, and they spent the next few years making music and memories together. Though music and theater were her main passions, Marilyn was also known to be a bibliophile, a lover of board games and bawdy jokes, an excellent cook, and for doing her crosswords in pen.
Following some extended health issues, Marilyn moved in with her son and daughter-in-law in Topeka, KS in the summer of 2020. She lived with them until she passed away expectedly in Topeka on Saturday, February 5th 2022.
Marilyn was preceded in death by her mother- Alice (Hudson) Parks, father- John Parks, sister- Gwendolyn Weaver, and nephew Casey Sherwood. She is survived by her brother and sister-in-law, Douglas and Judith Parks of Cheyenne, WY, and brother-in-law Earl Weaver of CG; her children: Adam Parks-Glover and wife Nanette Parks of Topeka, Sonia Glover and partner Benjamin VanLandingham of Kansas City, MO, Susan Layne and husband Dustin of Alta Vista, Steven Glover and partner Suzi Crockett of Emporia; nephew Matthew Weaver and wife Megan of CG, nieces Lynessa Sherwood of CG, Jessica Friis and husband Brian of Cheyenne, WY, and Angela Parks and partner Jerry Feser of Cheyenne, WY; grandchildren Brandon, Scott, Michael, Jonathon, Lispeth, Haley, Zoe, and Amber; partner Ron Scribner of CG, ex-husband Michael Glover of Emporia, several great nieces and nephews, great grandchildren, her “grandbunnies,” and many, many more kids who over the years called her “Mom” or “Grandma Mari.”
A lover of science as well as the arts, Marilyn is donating her remains to the University of Kansas Medical Center for research. A celebration of life and memorial fund in her honor will be set at a later date.