Marilyn Pope

Obituary For Marilyn Pope

Marilyn Pope, 78, passed away on the morning of May 22, 2022 in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Born on July 12, 1943 to William and Rebekah (Botkin) Ruddell in Maryville, Missouri, Marilyn was active in the Burr Oak community as a 4H sewer, flutist, and farmer’s daughter. She graduated from Skidmore High School in 1961 and from Northwest Missouri State University in 1965 with a bachelor’s of science in education. That June she married George Pittsenbarger. After two years teaching at Burlington High School, August 1968 brought the arrival of the couple’s first daughter, Georgia Beth. They moved to a farm outside Hopkins, Missouri, where Marilyn worked as a farmer’s wife and avid 4H leader. Six years later, their youngest daughter Lorinda was born. The family soon began splitting their time between Missouri and New Mexico. Marilyn eventually divorced and worked many careers, including driving for Tom’s Snacks, substitute teaching, and acting as the head of the Socorro Chamber of Commerce. She served in various chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution in many of the states she lived in over the years. Most of all, Marilyn cherished her work as the Director of the Geronimo Springs Museum in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. Marilyn loved discussing, gathering, and making history, and worked at Geronimo Springs until she passed. In 2001, she married Thurl Pope, and the two lived at various times in Alaska, Hawaiʻi, Arizona, and New Mexico. Thurl and his ladybug shared thirty years together before his passing in the summer of 2021. Marilyn was also preceded in death by her beloved parents and cousin Barbara Dew.

She is survived by her daughters: Georgia (Keith) Williams of North Pole, Alaska and Lorinda (Richard) Forster of Mountainview, Hawaiʻi; grandchildren: Jacob (Autumn) Williams, Ashland (George) Lindholm, and Lichen Forster; stepsons: Kevin (Paula) Pope of Kerrville, Texas and Kyle (Kate) Pope of Brooklyn New York; step grandchildren: Maddie (Wesley) Lewis, Kelby Pope, Laney Pope, Zachary, Josephine, and Alexandra Pope; step great-grandson Landon Lewis, as well as numerous other family and friends.

Donations to the Geronimo Springs Museum can be made at 211 Main Street, Truth or Consequences, NM, 87901.

Services for Marilyn Pope will be held Friday, May 27, at 10:00 A.M. at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on Cedar St.

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