Marilyn Joy Nash

Marilyn Joy Nash of Athol (and formerly Templeton), Massachusetts, passed away of natural causes on March 27, 2025. Born in Boston on September 22, 1940, to Eliot and Elsie Anderson, she also lived in Vermont and Maine before graduating from high school in Rockland, Massachusetts, and marrying William Nash of nearby Hanover on September 8, 1961.

Marilyn worked as an L.P.N. at Lankenau Hospital in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, prior to having children. Years later, back in Massachusetts, she earned her R.N. from Northern Essex Community College, working at New England Memorial Hospital in Stoneham and later Morton Hospital in Taunton. Her favorite area of nursing was labor and delivery.

Marilyn’s caring nature and organizational ability allowed her to serve people in many ways through the years. Besides being a nurse, she was a pastor's wife, partnering with her husband in ministry at churches in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Maine. She devoted herself to raising their four daughters, encouraging them especially to develop their musical abilities. She also served as a foster mother to sixty children, from infants to teenagers, between 1971 and 1996, in both Massachusetts and Maine. She was friendly and curious, enjoying good conversations, whether with a family member or stranger.

When time allowed, Marilyn enjoyed needlepoint and macrame, sewing and knitting (by hand or with one of her knitting machines), and quilting. She could be found planting flowers or weeding her garden beds, canning vegetables and fruit grown by husband Bill, or tending her beautiful indoor orchids. She enjoyed the family's dogs and Siamese cats, but especially doted on her cats. A music lover, especially of gospel music, Marilyn would sometimes stop what she was doing to sit at the piano and play by ear whatever hymn had just come to mind.

She is now in Heaven, rejoicing with her Savior and Lord, Jesus. Her life encourages us to consider our own trust in Jesus.

Marilyn is survived by her husband of nearly 64 years, William Nash of Athol; four daughters: Debra O'Brien and husband Jeff of Wiscasset, ME; Karen Brown and husband Scott of Berlin, MA; Carol Rathbun and husband Dan of Cedarville, OH; and Cheryl Thayer and husband Charles of Templeton, MA; eight grandchildren: Andrew O'Brien and wife Sarah of Hamilton, MA; Christiana Sigourney and husband Matthew of Medford, MA; Jonathan Rathbun and wife Melinda of Centerville, OH; Rachel Benefiel and husband Spencer of Xenia, OH; Erin O'Brien of Wiscasset, ME; Alyssa Brown of Columbus, OH; Samuel and Benjamin Thayer of Templeton, MA; and three great-grandchildren: Soren and Alesana Sigourney, and Connor O'Brien; and her siblings, Siri Welch and husband Robert of Big Lake, TX; Juanita Chou of Redlands, CA; Alden Anderson and wife Kay of Falls Church, VA; Peter Anderson and wife Michelle of Culpepper, VA; and brother-in-law Don Hipp of Highland, CA. Marilyn was preceded in death by her parents, Eliot and Elsie Anderson, and her sister, Sally Hipp.

Visiting hours will be at the Mack Family Funeral Home, 110 New Athol Road, Orange, MA, on Thursday, April 10 from 5-7 p.m.

 A Celebration of Life service will be held Saturday, April 12 at 11 a.m. at the Athol-Orange Baptist Church, 260 Walnut Street in Athol, MA.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Samaritan's Purse (www.samaritanspurse.org). We encourage you to share your memories of Marilyn and upload photos to the memorial page. Her legacy will continue to touch lives.