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Marilyn “Patsey” Fay Kearney, 89, of Clinton, born Jan. 6, (or 7th, or 12th), 1931, passed from this earth, Sept. 16, 2020, after living a vibrant life.

She is predeceased by her courageous daughter and son-in-law, Janice and Richard Newman, as well as many family and friends. She is survived by the remaining beautiful women in her life: daughter Karin Johnson; granddaughters Erika Lelievre, Thyra Monaghan, and Kristine and Alexa Adams; and great-granddaughters, Lucienne Lelievre and Bryn Monaghan.

Marilyn was born in Evanston, Ilinois, but many of her fondest memories started on the family farm in Portage, Wisconsin. Although she called Clinton home for the last 35 years, she also lived in Chicago, Ireland, Killingworth, Newtown, and New York.

An obituary will never be able to fully capture Marilyn’s adventurous life. If a hobby interested her, she dove in headfirst with passion and spunk. She was an artist, antique dealer, real estate agent, avid skier and kayaker, golfer, fox hunter, horseback rider, gardener, bed and breakfast innkeeper, and an occupational therapist. She spent years traveling all over New England in a big, rusty, red van running her antique business, On the Road Again Antiques.

She loved to learn anything and everything she possibly could. She was an avid reader and gravitated to natural teachers. The intellectuals in her world are what kept Marilyn driven. As a lover of art, she was particularly fond of music. One could not enter her home without hearing music playing and there was truly never a moment she was not either singing or humming. As much as she loved being a student of life, she also loved being a teacher. Her two granddaughters, Kristine and Alexa, benefited from this the most, having lived next door to Marilyn their whole lives. She loved to pass on her wisdom and knowledge to them, at any time, at any age.

Marilyn lived life by her own rules, completely disregarding anyone who got in her way, a trait she unintentionally passed on to the rest of the women in her life. Marilyn was a pillar in her family and a little piece of her is woven in each of them.

Marilyn led an active and healthy lifestyle but could not escape the curse of dementia. Despite her aggressive attempt to dismiss the disease, she could not. Marilyn’s independence and intelligence were her driving force, yet her memories slipped from her grasp and her abilities slowly disappeared. Her core wisdom never ceased, but to Marilyn, losing her mind was an incredible tragedy. Her family will be forever comforted by her life lessons. She was loved tremendously and will be missed just as much.

“Let go, Let God”.