Marilyn Dunwoody, beloved wife, mother, grandmother and friend, passed away June 3, 2011 in Atlanta, GA, at the age of 88.

Celebration of life services will be held 2:00 p.m. Thursday June 9th at the Jones & Eden Funeral Home in Washington, Iowa, with Pastor Darryl Carr officiating. Visitation will begin at 1:30 p.m. Thursday at the Jones & Eden Funeral Home, where the family will receive friends prior to the service. Interment will take place at the Oregon Township Cemetery in Ainsworth, Iowa. Online condolences may be sent for Marilyn's family through the web at www.jonesfh.com .

Marilyn was born Oct. 13, 1922, near Washington, IA, on her parents' farm. She was the third of eight children born to Glen and Martha Lorena (Salladay) Green. She attended school in Washington and married Kenneth W Dunwoody on March 29th, 1942. Later that year, he enlisted in the Navy for WWII.

Despite having never been outside of Iowa, Marilyn took a train to California where her husband was undergoing basic training aboard the USS Nevada, and she became one of the first female postal carriers in America. When the Nevada was sent to Boston for repairs, she took a 5-day train trip from California to Boston, where she worked in a department store until her husband was deployed for the D-Day invasion, and she returned to Washington.

The couple moved from Iowa to Dixon in 1960, where Marilyn worked at OSCO Drugs and Dixon Pharmacy, volunteered for Hospice, Meals on Wheels, Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts and the Reagan home, was a member of PEO and the First Christian Church of Dixon. Marilyn and Ken were active in the community, and enjoyed dancing, visiting friends and family, and traveling after retirement.

The couple resided most recently in Atlanta, GA, where they celebrated their 69th wedding anniversary earlier this year with their children.

Marilyn is survived by her loving husband, Ken; her daughter Toni Marquardt (spouse Wally) of Oglesby, IL; Ken R. Dunwoody (Patricia) of Marietta, GA; granddaughter Jacqueline Smith (Brian) of Oglesby; grandson Jonathan Seale of Baltimore, MD; beloved sister Margaret Monroe of Sigourney, IA; and great-granddaughters Michaela and Gabrielle Smith of Oglesby, IL.

She was preceded in death by her parents, brothers George, John, William, James and Robert, and sister Arliss.

Memorials have been established in the names of the First Christian Church of Dixon and Hospice of Rock River Valley.