Marilyn Nita Carlson

Marilyn Nita Carlson passed away recently just before her 98th birthday.

She was born Marilyn Nita Foerster on March 3, 1927 in Seattle, Washington. She was raised on Pigeon Hill in West Seattle. Her father was a longshoreman of German descent and her mother was from Oslo, Norway. She had one brother, Art, who was 6 years older. She attended Youngstown Elementary School through the 8th grade. In 1941 when Marilyn was 14 and ready for high school, her family moved to West Seattle proper. Her first job was working as a cashier at the Granada Theater. She lost the job when the management discovered she was underage and only 14 years old! In her senior year of high school, she got a part-time job as a cashier in the automotive department at the big Sears Roebuck store on 1st and Lander.

In 1944, after high school graduation, Marilyn got a full-time job as a secretary at Schwabacher Hardware on 1st Avenue in Seattle. In 1947, she quit that job to travel with her mother to Oslo, Norway, to visit her mother’s family. When she returned, she worked as a PBX (switchboard) operator at Serv-U Meat Company. A year later, Marilyn enrolled at the University of Washington. 

Marilyn had not taken a foreign language in high school, so she chose to take a Norwegian class at the University of Washington along with Sociology classes. That led to joining the Scandinavian Club and taking on the role of club secretary. John Carlson, whom she later married, was the President. In the fall of 1948, the club formed the Skandia Folkdance Club led by Gordon Tracie. Marilyn learned to dance at the old Swedish Club when she was 12, so she eagerly joined. Early in 1949, the members of the Skandia Folkdance Club formed a dance demonstration team that was eventually called Nordiska Folkdancers. They performed at many festivals in western Washington as well as for the Scandinavian community. In the summer of 1950, twelve of the Nordiska dancers performed American Folk dances throughout Sweden and Denmark with American Indian dancer, Bill Holm. The wonderful people in the dance group became Marilyn’s life-long friends.

When Marilyn returned from Europe, she began working for Drs. Addington, Templeton and Bracher, a group of radiologists. She worked for the organization for 33 years. 

In 1952, Marilyn married her dance partner, John Carlson. In the beginning, they lived in a little studio apartment in The Stanford at 42nd and Brooklyn. They moved to Edmonds in 1956 into a house that John designed. The house was Marilyn’s home for almost 70 years. It was there that she and John raised their two children and had innumerable social gatherings with their many friends.

John and Marilyn joined the Mountaineers club in the early 1960’s. When their kids were old enough, they joined the Campcrafters group and went on many family camping trips filled with hiking, tenting and singing around the campfire. Their love of the outdoors led them to join a group of teachers who purchased property on a small island in the Canadian Gulf Islands. They spend time there every summer with family and friends, fishing, clamming and enjoying the fresh air. Marilyn enjoyed years of camping, hiking, backpacking and travelling with their friends. She loved seeing new places and meeting new friends. She traveled to more than 20 different countries and took 8 cruises. The only thing Marilyn loved as much as her friends was dessert. She believed that dessert wasn’t something to be enjoyed after dinner. It should also be enjoyed after lunch and with coffee in the afternoon. Fortunately for her, friends and dessert go well together!

Marilyn’s mother died at age 111 at Crista in 2005. With more free time, she joined the Edmonds Floretum Garden Club, volunteered with the Snohomish County Visitors Bureau for 19 years, and participated in an aqua-size class at Harbor Square pool for a good 10 years. She was fortunate to have found many wonderful friends in these groups. Several of the women from her aqua-size class formed an informal group and called themselves “The Mermaids”. She met with them for coffee and dessert every week until she passed away. She had other friend groups that met regularly to play Mahjong, Rummikub, and Scrabble, and of course have dessert and chat. She met with her old friends from the University of Washington and The Mountaineers met once a month for lunch. Her life was always busy and full of wonderful friends!

Marilyn is survived by her children, Ulrik (Krista) and Siri (Dave); her two beloved grandchildren, Rand and Logan; and her three adorable grand-dogs, Loki, Vidarr and Birgit.

A celebration of Marilyn’s life will be held Sunday, April 13th from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM at the Edmonds Waterfront Center, 220 Railroad Ave, Edmonds, WA. Coffee, tea and hors d'oeuvres will be served.

In lieu of flowers, please bring your stories to share!