Marilyn Yvonne Wright, age 84, of Chehalis, Washington, died Monday, Oct. 31, 2022, of kidney disease. She was born Jan. 15, 1938, in Stambaugh, Michigan, the second child of Richard Nelson Stamper and Cleo Bernadine (Ramsdell) Stamper. Marilyn shared her childhood years in Riffe and later Mossyrock with her sisters Lois, Audrey, Sharon and Lola, and her brothers Jimmy, Allen, Gary and Terry Stamper. After graduating from Mossyrock High School, Marilyn married her high school sweetheart, Jack Swaim, in 1956 at the Church of the Brethren in Ajlune. In 1958, they moved to Hollis, Alaska, to work for the Ketchikan Pulp Company (KPC) then to the newly built KPC camp in Thorne Bay, Alaska. Marilyn and Jack raised their three kids Corky, Debbi, and Kenneth in Thorne Bay and Ketchikan. After Jack’s death in 1978, Marilyn married Don Wright in 1981. Marilyn and Don enjoyed a life of adventure with many friends and family everywhere from Southeast Alaska to Palm Springs, California; Woodland, Washington; Roseburg, Oregon; and of course, Mossyrock and Chehalis, Washington. Marilyn relocated to Chehalis in 2012 and enjoyed her life around beloved and familiar friends and new friends at the senior center. She loved to dance and enjoyed playing pinochle. Marilyn is survived by her daughter Debbi Swaim (Dan) Thompson; daughter-in-law Chrissie (Clint) McClennan; stepchildren Linda (Harold) Heiser, Sandy Wright and Arron Wright; grandchildren Jack (Kayleigh) Slagle, Shannon (Austin Green) Slagle, Max (Kayla) Swaim, Maria (Russel) Miller, Michael (Lindsay) Swaim, Kenneth (Gracie) Swaim, Brian and Sarah McClennan, Kimberly (Chad Lyczkowski) Thompson, Michael (Ashley) Thompson, Vince Morin, Lacie and Lisa Murphy, Cody Wallin, and 22 great-grandchildren. Marilyn was preceded in death by her husbands Jack Swaim and Don Wright; sons Corky and Kenneth Swaim; parents Nels and Bernedine Stamper; brothers Jimmy, Allen, and Gary; sister Sharon; grandson Charles Gregory Slagle; and many classmates and special friends including Shirley Carlin, Bill Nelson and Emily Lukin. A service will be held at the Twin Cities Senior Center from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022. The luncheon will include Marilyn’s favorite foods. It will be a day of food, friends, family and farewell words. Notes and cards can be mailed to Debbi Thompson at 5319A Shoreline Drive, Ketchikan, Alaska, 99901. In lieu of gifts and flowers, please donate to the charity of your choice in Marilyn’s name. A celebration will be held in Ketchikan in the summer of 2023, date is yet to be determined.
