Marilyn Ruth Magenheimer

Marilyn Ruth Magenheimer, 81, beloved wife and mother, passed away on April 5, 2025 at 2am in Olathe Health Hospice House due to complications resulting from influenza. She lived in Olathe for the last 31years with her surviving husband George Magenheimer.

Marilyn was born on February 11, 1944, in Kansas City, Kansas as the youngest of seven children of Pearl (Dearinger) and Herman Brauer. Growing up in a son-centric family, young Marilyn would attend Boy Scout meetings/camps while her father was a Boy Scout leader, and later, her suitors would endure endless teasing by her brothers at family meals. She graduated from Washington High School in 1962 where her favorite subject was choir. Following graduation Marilyn worked for Sinclair Oil in the mailroom. She met her future husband, George Magenheimer, at a church function and they married on April 19, 1963, beginning their life in Kansas City, Kansas. They eventually moved to Merriam and then Shawnee. As they raised their three daughters, Marilyn also worked outside the home at JC Penney’s and later worked as a para-professional in the Olathe School District. Marilyn was a lifetime member of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, in which her three children were raised, baptized and confirmed. She was involved in the church youth groups and had served as youth group leader at Hope Lutheran Church. Some of the accomplishments that Marilyn was most proud of were bowling a perfect game, watching her daughters’ successes in various sports, and sending them to college.

Marilyn was devoted to her husband and family. She worked to ensure that all her children had opportunities to pursue their many interests and have numerous experiences, including the coordination of annual driving vacations that eventually took the family through most of the contiguous states. She never missed any of their school games or performances. She will be remembered by family and friends as fun-loving, incredibly organized, always prepared and the “leader of the team”. She loved music, entertaining family and friends, and decorating the home for holidays especially for Christmas with her extensive nutcracker collection. Marilyn also enjoyed playing cards, doing jigsaw puzzles and sudoku, and was an avid fan of cooking shows, Jeopardy, Hallmark movies and happy endings.

Marilyn was preceded in death by five of her siblings, Herman, George, Fred, Norma and Clara Jean and most recently, by her daughter Robin Hilbert (February 22, 2025). She is survived by husband George; elder sister Barb Houtman; daughters, Brenda Magenheimer (Robin Maser) and Lynn Magenheimer; grandchildren, Robert Hilbert (Pharlin Johnson, fiancé) and Rachel Hilbert; granddog Kodi; and great grandchildren, Emaily, Xander and Evelyn Ivy Rose.

A memorial service will be held at Hope Lutheran Church, 6308 Quivira Rd, Shawnee, KS on Saturday, April 12, at 11:00 am. Visitation is available beginning at 10am. To view a livestream of the service, visit the following link:

https://www.youtube.com/live/Bv1q4rWgdFU

In lieu of flowers, please direct honoraria or memorials as donations to Hope Lutheran Church and School Shawnee, Kansas https://hopelutheran.org, or Olathe Health Hospice House olathehealth.org (in the MEMO line, please write, “Hospice House”).

To share a memory of Marilyn, or to leave a special message for the family, visit the guestbook below.