Marilyn Bernt, 84

Marilyn Rose Bernt, 84, of Mountain Home, died at a Boise care center on March 1, 2004, after a battle with cancer.

Rosary and Mass of Memoriam were held at Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church on March 8, with graveside services following at Glen Rest Cemetery in Glenns Ferry. Arrangements were made under the direction of Alden-Waggoner Funeral Home in Boise.

Marilyn was born April 29, 1919, in Salmon, Idaho. She was the second daughter of Frank Truman Andrews and Pearl V. Andrews, a pioneer family that had settled in Idaho Territory in 1863. Marilyn's early years were spent in her grandfather's house where she was cared for by her parents and two devoted housekeepers, Maggie and Polly. After leaving Salmon, the Andrews family lived briefly in Bruneau, before moving to Mountain Home in 1931.

Marilyn graduated from Mountain Home High School as the valedictorian of the Class of 1938. In the following year she worked in Sausalito, Calif. as a secretary for a family friend, Isabel Percy West.

She then attended the University of Idaho.

For two years, she taught at the School for the Deaf and Blind in Gooding. While teaching later at the Hammett School she met her future husband, Lawrence Bernt. They were married on Feb. 10, 1945. Shortly afterward, Larry and Marilyn moved alongside the Snake River near Glenns Ferry to a ranch he gave her as a wedding present. They spent half a century on the ranch where over the years they brought up two sons and four daughters.

All of her life Marilyn had a love for the written word, her family noted. She read a new book each day and she was also an accomplished writer. "She was a good cook and looked forward with joy to the parties, harvest dinners, and island picnics for family and friends which were frequently held at the ranch."

She was interested in art and poetry. She was also an avid collector of stamps, dolls, teddy bears, and fine china.

"Marilyn was a very kind and charitable person and gave much to others," her family said. "She was active in church and civic organizations for many years and will be lovingly remembered for her sweet disposition and gentle manners."

In 1990, she moved to her house in Mountain Home where she enjoyed her rose gardens, her cats, "and the people she loved so dearly."

In her last years, she was cared for by friends and family members.

Marilyn is survived by: her children, Mrs. Rose Sulfridge of Boise; Mrs. Dorothy Smith and her husband, Dennis; Mrs. Jane Tibor and her husband, Jerry, of Anchorage, Alaska; Gerald Bernt and his wife, Beth, of Glenns Ferry; Richard Bernt of Mountain Home; Mrs. Joan Stocking and her husband, Glenn, of Boise; numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren; and by one sister, Mrs. Gail Taylor and her husband, John W. Taylor, of San Fernando, Calif.

Marilyn was preceeded in death by her sister, Mrs. Mildred Cardwell, one brother, Edwin Andrews, her parents, and by her husband, Lawrence.