Marilyn Lepeska, beloved mother of eight and respected member of the Twin Lakes community, died peacefully in her sleep on Friday, March 20, at age 85.

Born Marilyn Joyce Knapp in Burlington, Kansas, on the first of February, 1935, into an Apostolic Christian family, she had a strict yet happy childhood amid what her younger brother Louie, one of 10 siblings, fondly called pandemonium.

Soon after graduating high school, she moved with her family to Forrest, Illinois, and started working in the secretarial pool for a large company. Marilyn decided she wanted to see more of the world and in 1955 moved to Chicago, where her professional and social life blossomed as the assistant to an executive vice president at United Airlines.

Taking advantage of free flying privileges, she was soon traveling around the world. She took her mother to her homeland, Germany, and returned to Chicago with a Volkswagen Beetle. She led her United co-workers on adventures in Italy, Acapulco, Hawaii, the Caribbean, New York City and beyond.

"We survived mostly because of her practicality and marvelous sense of humor and generosity of spirit. No adventure was too bizarre," Marilyn's former flatmate and colleague recalled. "Marilyn was an important part of my 'growing up' and a centering influence."

In the summer of 1962, Marilyn met Will Lepeska at a Hawaii-themed party on a North Chicago beach. They married the next year, then had eight children in quick succession.

Marilyn shifted seamlessly into the all-consuming role of mother and homemaker, singing her kids awake every morning before making them hot breakfasts and bag lunches, finding time to keep the house clean, the pantry well stocked, the dinner table filled with goodness and her children in good health and cheer.

As a mother, Marilyn's emphasis was more on truth-telling than esteem-building. She would not tell you "good job" if the job you did was merely okay. But she was a tireless mother who loved her children intensely and they all knew it.

Marilyn volunteered for years at Burlington Memorial Hospital, as a cashier in the gift shop, and with Twin Lakes' St. Vincent de Paul charity. She was also a long-time, committed member of the congregation and choir at St. John's Church in Twin Lakes.

She was an avid golfer and led her bowling league team to several winning seasons. She was a legendary cook and enjoyed uplifting music and mostly heart-warming movies, and was known among her family and social circle as a dominant gin rummy player.

Marilyn's best friend and husband Will passed away in 2015 after a struggle with cancer. After the illness had taken away many of life's pleasures for him, Will said, "As long as she is alive, I want to be by her side." Of their marriage and lives together, Marilyn later said simply, "We had a wonderful life."

She is survived by one sister, four brothers, eight children, and 13 grandchildren.

Funeral Mass for Marilyn will be held on June 24, 2021 at 11:00AM at St. John's Catholic Church 701 N. Lake Ave  Twin Lakes, WI.  Please send any memorial contributions to St. Vincent de Paul, P.O. BOX 74, Twin Lakes, WI, 53181.