Page created by: James Choike

Marilyn was born on September 12, 1942, in Detroit, Michigan, the first of three children to Arthur and Mildred Dudek. Marilyn attended Carleton Elementary, Dominican High School, the University of Detroit, where she earned a BA in American History and a secondary teaching certificate, and Oklahoma State University. Marilyn and her husband Jim met at a high school dance following a Friday night football game. They started dating regularly two years later as high school seniors and married on July 23, 1966. They were devoted to each other, providing love and support to each other, throughout their 54 years of marriage.

Marilyn began her professional career teaching 12th grade American History and Civics at East Detroit High School. During her five years at East Detroit, she was a senior sponsor for the annual senior trip to Washington DC and Williamsburg, and she taught Civics classes in the evenings as part of adult education programs. These early years of travel with students, showing them firsthand the early history of America, established her long-standing passion for teaching American History and for travel.

Marilyn and Jim moved to Stillwater in 1970 when Jim joined the mathematics faculty at Oklahoma State University. Marilyn juggled with the responsibilities of raising three children, George, Joanna, and Catherine, while completing coursework for a Master's degree in Sociology at OSU. In 1981, an opening came available to teach 7th grade American History at Stillwater Middle School, at the same time Marilyn was ready to resume her career as a teacher. She taught at Stillwater Middle School until her retirement in 2003. During these 22 years of teaching at the Middle School, virtually every Stillwater student either had Mrs. Choike in class or knew who she was. Marilyn loved to tell her classes stories of how immigrants made this country great, sharing with them her personal story of her maternal grandparents meeting in America after immigrating from Poland in the early 20th century. In 1988 and again in 1996 Marilyn was chosen as the Middle School Teacher of the Year. One of her students remembered Mrs. Choike as "a petite and soft-spoken lady, who surprisingly commanded avid attention from her students by means of her interesting lectures and enrichment activities," and how Mrs. Choike encouraged students to share their own family backgrounds. The student recalled for one class, “our homework was to bring an interesting item from around the house that most people would not recognize. The next day, the room was filled with everything from ancient cheese-graters to dried ink blocks.” In 1990, Marilyn was selected as a faculty leader to prepare and accompany middle school students nominated to travel to Kameoka Japan as part of Stillwater’s first “Sister City” school exchange program. Marilyn also served as teacher sponsor and leader for 12 Spring Break trips to Europe for Stillwater students and their family members. She organized evening prep sessions for her young travelers about the people, the language, the culture, and the history of the countries to be visited. Stillwater Middle School gave Marilyn wonderful and memorable opportunities to fulfill her passion of teaching students about American History and cultures beyond Stillwater through travel. After retirement, she was invited by the OSU College of Education to share her teaching experiences and knowledge as an adjunct instructor, supervising and teaching students preparing for secondary teaching in the social sciences.

Marilyn was first diagnosed with Parkinson's in the spring of 2011. For the past 9 years Parkinson's has been a constant companion for Marilyn and Jim. In addition to being her loving husband, Jim transitioned into her loving husband and caregiver. Marilyn and Jim were supported by the wonderful community of Stillwater, and especially by the Stillwater Parkinson's Support Group, under the leadership of Sabiha Parveen, a faculty member of Oklahoma State University. Both Marilyn and Jim have a warm place in their heart for Dr. Kevin Klos of Tulsa who managed her Parkinson's care since 2011. As Parkinson's progressed, we moved to Tulsa in 2017 to be closer to her Parkinson's care. That brought Marilyn and Jim to our second supportive community in the senior care community of Montereau.

Marilyn died peacefully under Hospice care with the love of her grandchildren, son, and husband near on October 19, 2020.