Marilyn Jones Obituary

Marilyn Gatlin Jones, 69, of Killen died Wednesday, June 25, 2025, at NAMC.
Visitation will be Saturday, June 28, 2025, 10 AM to 12 PM at Elkins East Chapel. Funeral service will follow in the chapel with Bro. Landon Willis officiating.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Odell and Letha Gatlin; brothers, Wayne Gatlin and Gary Gatlin.
Mrs. Jones was a graduate of UNA and then earned her master's degree in education at Georgia Southern. She taught at many Military bases. She was a Pilates Instructor for 23 years at the YMCA. She was recently honored in Shriley Smiles Foundation.
She is survived by her loving and devoted husband of 49 years, Thomas C. Jones; brother, Charles Gatlin; several nieces and nephews, great nieces and nephews and one great-great nephew.
In lieu of flowers please make donations to the YMCA.
You are invited to leave condolences at www.elkinsfuneralhome.com.
Marilyn's Story
This is Marilyn's story from my perspective. We met in the 5th grade in Mrs. Walters' class at Gilbert Elementary School in Florence. We were both shy, but I remember her being very cute, especially in her blue Navy style dress. We were in different classes in 6th grade, and I thought she was lucky to be in a separate classroom apart from the main building. We both attended Appleby Junior High School. Then we parted ways as she went to that other high school, and I attended Coffee.
We met again on the first day of orientation at UNA. I saw her in the parking lot as she lived close by and was walking to UNA while I was parking behind Flowers Hall. We started talking as we seemed to meet often in the parking lot that semester. I was dating a friend of hers at the time but knew that was not working out. I mustered up the courage to ask her to the Coffee High School homecoming game in October. She agreed and I was excited. At the kickoff she asked something, and I missed the first play which would be a continuing thing that we would laugh about in the future. After the game in the car, I asked her what she would like to do and taking that the wrong way she said in a forceful voice "take me home!" I did and remembered getting home early and my parents remarked I was home early. Fate prevailed and I asked her out again and we began a lifelong friendship.
We married young, both being 19. We struggled with me on a military scholarship and working full time evenings at ECM hospital and her being a student assistant.
At college graduation in May 1978 I was commissioned as a second lieutenant, and we entered active duty. We were making $732 dollars a month and didn't know how we could ever spend that much money.
Marilyn got her Masters' degree from Georgia Southern in adult education before we were reassigned from Georgia to Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, MS in 1982. We felt a part of a real civilian community for the first time. We bought our first home and we almost fainted when the mortgage agent showed up the final thirty-year loan amount. We both loved it there! I was coming from a real world gung-ho fast pace long hours job to a teaching job with unbelievable hours. We made lots of friends, several we still keep in touch with forty years later. Life was good but all things must come to an end. My joint service slot needed to be rotated, and we were heading to Germany.
This overseas trip would be Marilyn's first plane ride and what a trip it was! We flew from Nashville to what is now called Reagan in DC to JFK in New York to Zurich and finally over the Alps to Stuttgart, Germany. We took off on February 28, leap year day and landed with about 18 inches of snow. Wow, Gulf Coast sun and sand to mountains and snow. Our little cocker spaniel had to hop like a bunny rabbit to plow through the snow. My next joint job and this time with a government agency.
Fast forward three years and we are assigned to a second tour at the agency just outside of Washington DC. Marilyn had several jobs including working at the Quantico Marine Base to running the distance learning program for Park College to being the executive assistant at George Mason University.
Three years and back overseas again to Headquarters European Command. I was on a joint staff running joint operations. She was the executive assistant to the European Command's Surgeon General. Like our previous European tour, I was gone a lot, and she said she only saw me come and get clean socks and be gone again. These were tough times for her as she was working a full-time job, housekeeping and managing every household task during my frequent absences.
We expected to return to the DC area, but the military had different plans for us. I was assigned to Norfolk VA, the largest naval base in the world. I was used to the Air Force and the Navy being my taxi to places I didn't really care to go but this time was different. I was to lead the Department of Defense's senior intelligence school. We were happy as I would be home, and we bought a beautiful home.
All service people eventually must retire, and I chose not to go back overseas and put in my retirement paperwork after my tour was completed. Marilyn wanted to move back home to be close to family, so in July 2000 we moved back home to Florence.
We spent four years remodeling our house. She worked more hours than me and we always worked great as a team. In our spare time we joined the local YMCA and were asked to be instructors after about six months of membership. She started teaching Active Older Adult classes and I started with kick boxing and karate classes.
Life was good for seventeen years with us teaching and traveling throughout the country from coast-to-coast sightseeing and me enjoying one of my hobbies.
In 2018 our lives took a dramatic and difficult turn. Marilyn was diagnosed with colon and rectal cancer during a routine screening. It was advanced and required immediate surgery following a series of radiation treatments. She caught C Diff which is a life-threatening infection. She was on a refrigerated blanket with temperatures of 104 for days. She coded and it is a terrible sight to see your wife lying there while the staff of doctors and nurses attempt resuscitation. They fortunately and amazingly brought her back. Her heart doctor advised the installation of a pacemaker and defibrillator. Then came the surgery at ECM to remove the cancer. It did not go well, and the doctor called me in and informed me she had about three months to live. I was floored! Not expected! I asked where to go and reluctantly he advised me to leave the area for treatment. I will forever be thankful and grateful he violated the medical code of silence. I asked for the best treatment facilities, and he mentioned both Vanderbilt and UAB. I asked which was the best and he said they are all trained at MD Anderson in Houston, Texas. That is where we went.
In December 2018 she had major surgery. The surgery alone was twelve hours and two surgical teams. She had a rough time, but the surgery was successful. Followed up with chemotherapy and in August 2019 she was declared cancer free!!
We continued to drive to Houston for checkups every three months, but life was good, and we were mostly back to normal activities. In September 2021 during our visit her cancer marker number was elevated higher than before! Life had taken another turn for the worse. The cancer had spread to her skeletal system and into her lungs. This required more intense chemotherapy and her losing her hair which was very traumatic for her. The numbers came down and life resumed but this time with monthly preventative chemo treatments and trips to Houston.
We settled into this new routine and again she was teaching at her beloved Y classes. She has always loved the art of tatting or, as I call it, tying a series of tiny knots. During this time, she undertook the challenge to become certified as a Master Tatter. She succeeded in her goal and produced several beautiful pieces for her final assessment and was awarded the prestigious title of Master Tatter.
Fast forward to spring of 2024. Her cancer marker numbers are reaching uncharted territory. A non-cancer person has a score of 5 or less on the CEA blood test. Hers was 120 and climbing. Back to MD Anderson and they finally scanned her brain and located the tumor. They had missed it as colon/rectal cancer does not typically surface in the brain. Their miss and our disaster! Her CEA marker number was now over 200. More heavy-duty chemotherapy with her hair falling out again. This time though the treatment was too much for her to handle. There was a two-week period I didn't know if she would be alive when I went to wake her up in the morning. She lost about fifty pounds and the tumor had the effect of appearing that she had a stroke on the right side of her face. She could barely talk, lost vision in her right eye which caused balance issues, could not swallow or eat solid foods.
Not chronologically in order but it needs to be added. Her family and friends know she loves Christmas! She loves decorating the tree and getting it up early. She loves the music and family gatherings. She has always been a giver and loves to make things as presents for dear friends. One of her specialties is tatting beautiful Christmas tree ornaments as gifts. There are many different designs, but stars and angels are her favorites.
I am writing this in our hotel in Houston. Yesterday they installed a feeding tube, called a g tube, in her stomach. I just finished her first feeding, and she says she is feeling better. Monday, March 24, 2025, they will begin five days of gamma knife radiation. The plan is to attack the tumor and prevent further degradation of her functions and hopefully restore some lost capabilities.
This is our story. The ups and the downs but the downs are painful. I am glad I have written this down. Tears have flowed during this. I have often wondered how such a good religious person who never smoked, drank, used drugs and was active, ate right and giving to family and community could come down with this terrible condition. I tell people that her only vice was marrying me.
Written March 22, 2025.
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