Marilyn Elaine Kessler was born on July 17, 1927, to Charles R. Kessler and Olive J. Corby Kessler. She had a twin sister, (Beverly) June Kessler (Kelsey, McNaught) who was her best friend and confidant until her death in 2007, at the age of 79. She also had a brother, Richard Kessler, who was born before her, but sadly passed away at the age of 14 months.
Marilyn grew up in Modesto and attended Modesto High School. Her family attended The First United Methodist Church in Modesto and church was always important to her.
When Marilyn and her sister June were in High School, they made extra money by working at one of the canneries in Modesto during the summer. After graduating from High School, in June 1945, Marilyn attended Modesto Junior College. It was during this time that Marilyn met her future husband, Charles Albert Lynds. Charles (“Chuck”) and Marilyn went on a blind date with their friends Frank and Mary Sample in January 1947. They had a whirlwind romance and got married in August of that year.
Chuck and Marilyn lived with his parents on their farm in Valley Home, for a year or so, until Chuck could finish building a house at the edge of the family acreage. During the time the couple lived in Valley Home, Chuck started working for Crocker Anglo Bank in Modesto, while Marilyn started working as an elementary school teacher near Valley Home. They soon decided to move to Modesto to be closer to Chuck’s work, and to start a family. Their son Chris was born in 1951 and Catherine, in 1952. In 1957, Chuck decided to build a family cabin on property in Forbestown that was given to him by his parents. The family had years of enjoyment from staying in the little rock cabin.
During this time, Marilyn stayed home with the children until both children were in school, and then she went back to teaching. When the kids were 7 and 8, the family moved to another house in Modesto, closer to Marilyn’s parents, so that they could walk to their grandparents’ home after school to wait for Marilyn to pick them up. During the time the family lived in this home, Marilyn attended Stanislaus State College to get her teaching certificate.
In 1962, Chuck was offered a job at the Crocker Citizens Bank in Walnut Creek, so the family moved to Concord. Marilyn got a job teaching at Clayton Valley Elementary School. She taught mostly third grade and worked hard to be a good teacher. Her students appreciated how she cared about them as individuals. In later years, when she ran into one of her former students, the young man told her she was the best teacher he ever had.
Around 1975, Chuck and Marilyn moved back to Modesto, because Crocker Citizens Bank was bought by Wells Fargo, and Chuck, including most of the staff, were laid off. Chuck quickly got a job at The Bank of Agriculture and Commerce in Stockton and worked there until he retired in 1982. Marilyn considered teaching with the Modesto School District but decided to retire after moving back to Modesto.
Marilyn and Chuck’s first grandchild, Corbin Blankenbiller, was born in 1981, followed the next year by his brother Ryan Blankenbiller, and several years later, by their cousin, Steven Lynds. Both Marilyn and Chuck enjoyed being grandparents and loved their grandsons so much. When their great grandchildren were born; Madeline, Corbin, Jr. (who sadly passed away at age 5), Alex, Sam, Rowan and Ava, they cherished every moment of being with them. They enjoyed taking family vacations with the whole family, and the younger generation(s) will have years of happy memories to recall.
Marilyn was blessed with 50 years of retirement, almost 75 years of marriage, and 97 years of life. She was a blessing to all who knew her. Marilyn loved to learn, and she loved to inspire others to love learning. She was loving, kind, hard-working and exemplified Christian values.
Marilyn was loved and respected by her family and friends. As her daughter, I was proud to call her my mom.
She made the world a better place.
She is greatly missed.
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