Marilyn Clemens Obituary

Marilyn J. Clemens

Dec 10, 1932 - Dec 17, 2025

Huron

Marilyn Jean Clemens [nee Liphart], 93, Huron, passed away peacefully at her home Wednesday, December 17, 2025, after an extended illness.

Known to her friends and family as "Micki, Marilyn was born December 10, 1932, in Sandusky, to Pearl [Liphart] and James G. Kelley. After graduating from Sandusky High School in 1950, she worked for Philco and New Departure as a secretary, eventually meeting her first husband, Duane Landin [a lightkeeper's son]. Following Duane's tragic death in a plane crash, Marilyn, May 30, 1960, then a widow of some years with two young daughters, married her second husband, Donald Clemens, with whom she raised three additional children and enjoyed a marriage to him until his passing May 25, 2024.

Marilyn, having given her energies and enthusiasm to raising five children, eventually returned to secretarial work. She found herself working in the sales department at Sawmill Creek Resort, but eventually went to work at the [then] nearby Sun Travel Agency. After so many wonderful years of working at Sun Travel and enjoying many trips around the world, Marilyn came to purchase Sun Travel and managed the agency at its Huron Plaza location until her retirement in 2006. During those working years, and in serving her many wonderful customers, anxious as they were to travel the world as well, she came to love and adore Huron and the surrounding area even more so than she did growing up and raising her family which, in keeping her in Northern Ohio, allowed her to enjoy many summers of boating and island-hopping with her husband and family on their 1960 Lyman.

Besides raising a family of five children, Marilyn enjoyed many splendid hours with friends whom she adored and treasured, from playing bridge and poker on many an evening to swimming and playing tennis and golf by day with, at times, Thunderbird Hills Golf Course being her home away from home. Her energy and enthusiasm for all things social only came to be diminished when illness took hold and left us without her. But she lives on in all our hearts and the many fond memories of a life lived passionately both on land and on the water, both here on Lake Erie and, as well, equally, Lake Michigan, more particularly, Washington Island, Wisconsin where many of her family relations lived and of whom many remain, such as the Zorn, Koyen and Hagen families, for instance, among others, with a folk song written there, by local legend Julian Hagen, "Northern Lights", being now a most befitting song as it reminds of us of how short and fleeting life really is and that we must embrace it "while we can" for indeed life comes and goes much like the Northern Lights.

When not entertaining at home, or traveling, Marilyn found herself enjoying hours upon hours in serving the local community through membership in Welcome Wagon and the Huron Civil Club, establishing relations that existed to the very day she passed. She, too, enjoyed membership in many area yacht clubs which increased her zeal for living. And as perhaps only a few knew, Marilyn enjoyed producing art in her younger years, painting when she could or otherwise dreaming of masterpieces but never quite having the time to produce them for she chose instead to spend the vast majority of her spare time among her many special friends and, of course, her family, enjoying especially - even more so than, say, jetting off to Europe or Hawaii - her many wonderful and fun-filled trips to Georgia to visit her daughters and their families, experiences so valuable that no price can be affixed to them. Hers was a life that started with little and ended with an absolute treasure trove of many and fond memories of which, unfortunately, within her declining health, she was not able to speak.

Marilyn was preceded in death by her parents, her first husband Duane, her second husband Donald, her sisters-in-law Arline, Darline and Joan [Landin], Dorothy Printy and Marian Beatty, brothers-in-law Howard Printy and Wayne Beatty, nephew Dennis Printy and many friends, a sad reality to living a long, happy and prosperous life. But to her last day, Marilyn was blessed to have had friendships with many nieces and nephews and, too, have a small handful of longtime friends who now have the special honor of outliving her.

Marilyn is survived by her five children, daughters Debi Clemens, of Sandusky, Kim [Mike] Troike, of Parrish, Florida and Mary Beth [Brian] Yeager, of Ball Ground, Georgia, in addition to sons Jonathan [Diane] Clemens, of Olmsted Falls, Ohio and Jeffrey Clemens, of Huron, Ohio and Mt. Shasta, California and, as well, many nieces and nephews. But, especially, Marilyn is survived by her grandchildren, Mathew, Kristan and Megan, of Florida, for whom she held a special place in her heart although separated by many miles, a distance that was nonetheless often surmounted by car or plane, resulting in many wonderful visits to them. Marilyn, too, is blessed to be survived by a close cousin, Patricia Esposito, of Huron, and many other relations throughout the area, with Sandusky and Huron being the only towns in which she ever resided, choosing to travel the world but to live nowhere else.

And, too, it must be said, Marilyn's family wishes to thank, in addition to the many family members, neighbors and friends who gave their time and support to her care and well-being, the many wonderful folks at Stein Hospice who by their efforts allowed Marilyn to enjoy her last days in peace and comfort and to pass on with dignity and honor. The family asks that, in lieu of flowers and the like, any contributions be made to Stein Hospice as well as to St. Peter Catholic Church, in Huron, that, in an earlier time, provided a strong, moral and spiritual bedrock to a life well-lived with Christian principles continuing to forever underly Marilyn's faith, manner and being. Marilyn was not necessarily born with a smile but she surely left us with a smile not only on her face but many others. Her family asks but for those who knew her to rejoice and to not be saddened by her passing but instead be inspired and, in turn, aspire to help others as she made a life doing in ways both financial and physical, spiritual and emotional, actions and deeds knowable much of the time but sometimes so subtle as can only be felt not seen. Farewell, Marilyn. You are gone but not forgotten. We will be reminded of you every time we experience a breath of fresh air and, especially, every time we are blessed to witness the amazing display of the Northern Lights for they shimmer and sparkle much in the way you lived your life. True, you had no brothers and sisters but you made all those around you feel like family and for this you will be most remembered.

Condolences may be shared online at www.grofffuneralhomes.com.