WALNUT — Marilyn S. Colegrove, 74, of Walnut died at 3 p.m. Thursday, May 17, 2012, at Prairie Mission Retirement Village in St. Paul following a courageous one-year battle with cancer. 

She was born Sept. 18, 1937, at Stark to Leonard and Sue (Smith) Jacquinot. As a young child, she moved with her family to rural Walnut, where she grew up and attended St. Patrick’s Catholic School and graduated in 1955. As a teenager, she worked as a telephone operator in Walnut.

On Aug. 22, 1959, she married Merlin K. Colegrove at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Walnut. After marriage, they moved to Girard for a year and then returned to Walnut, where they had lived since. He survives of the home.

She worked at the Kansas Army Ammunition Plant and Fred Ronald Manufacturing Co., both in Parsons, as a waitress at Brown’s Bakery in Girard and Boots and Saddles Restaurant in Walnut and at MCM Recreation in Walnut. She later owned and operated Boots and Saddles.

She was a member of St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Walnut and its Altar Society and had served as vice president of the Walnut School Alumni Association. In her lifetime, she loved watching ball games, baking and spoiling her family. She was famous for baking cakes, cookies and cinnamon rolls and received great pleasure in giving away her baked goods, especially her banana nut bread. A highlight of her life was in 1985 when she attended the St. Louis Cardinals vs. Kansas City Royals World Series.

Other survivors include a daughter, Marla Kichler and her husband, Jesse, of Walnut; three grandsons, Devin Kichler, Justin Kichler and Trenton Kichler; a granddaughter, Megan Kichler; and two brothers, Bernard Jacquinot  of Overland Park and Ken Jacquinot of Parsons.

She was preceded in death by her parents and four brothers, Joe Gene, Leonard Paul, William Joseph and Alonzo Patrick Jacquinot.

Following cremation, the memorial funeral Mass will be at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Walnut. Burial of ashes will be in St. Patrick’s Cemetery in Walnut. The rosary will be prayed at 7 p.m. Monday at the church, where the family will receive friends immediately following the rosary.

Memorials are suggested to help defray funeral expenses and may be left at or mailed to Forbes-Hoffman Funeral Home, P.O. Box 374, Parsons, 67357.

Online condolences may be left at www.forbeshoffman.com.