The accolades are many. At the age of 92 she was named Schoolcraft’s Citizen of the Year. She has written three books, numerous poems, and won many awards. She spent several years as a court-appointed special advocate for neglected and abused children in Kalamazoo County. She shares her writings with readings to schoolchildren and serves as a poet in residence for this publication.
My purpose on a cold February Sunday afternoon was not the accomplishments, but to inquire about the adventures, misfortunes, near catastrophes, and the highs and lows of a journey that will reach 100 years in March 2026. I was invited into her tidy home in the Village of Schoolcraft, to sit around a small kitchen table and listen to some amazing stories.
Marilyn Jones is a special person. Her recollection and knowledge would allow her to converse with almost anyone on any subject, and her keen sense of humor brings her stories to life.
Marilyn says, “I was born on a snowy night in March of 1926 to Roy and Gladys Clark in Dowagiac, Michigan.” Her parents were in high school and living with his parents. Gladys quit school while Roy finished high school. According to Marilyn, “Dad liked dancing and partying with friends while mom stayed home with me.” Her parents divorced in less than a year. Gladys moved to Kalamazoo and took a job as a waitress, while Marilyn went to live with her grandma Maggie in Keeler, Michigan.
Life in Keeler centered around the small Methodist Church where the Summer Bazaar and Christmas were the highlights of life. Marilyn remembers traveling to church in a horse and buggy, “In the winter we had a warm blanket around us and when we got to church, we put the blanket on the horse.
“Everyone was poor during the Great Depression,” adds Marilyn, “so we all knew that Santa was poor too. But when I received a clothespin doll in the toe of my stocking, I just knew I was a good girl.” Marilyn also tells the story of searching for fishing bait with two younger friends in a field and coming upon a large piece of metal. Knowing that the worms they sought were undoubtedly under the metal, the three young girls positioned themselves, with Marilyn in the middle, to remove the heavy object. Unfortunately, the metal was covering an old well and moving it caused Marilyn to fall in, clinging perilously to the edge until her friends were able to drag her, all scratched up, to safe ground. Marilyn casts a wiry grin. “It seems odd today to talk about reaching 100, when I almost didn’t make it to ten.”
At age seven, Marilyn joined her mother in a one-room apartment in Kalamazoo. Her mother worked nights in a bar, leaving her to fend for herself often, Marilyn says, “Mom always left me six cents so I could roller skate to the store to buy a can of soup for my supper, and I always chose tomato. I warmed the soup on a hot plate then climbed into the Murphy bed – which was left down because I was too small to get it down alone – and I’d write poems to my paper dolls. In the morning I’d cross Westnedge Avenue all by myself and go to the school that was where Chenery Auditorium is today. One day my mom decided we would move to Detroit to make more money, so we left the rent unpaid and moved across the state.”
Marilyn’s memory of Detroit includes tap dancing lessons, and one day trying to liberate some paper dolls from a large Woolworth Store without paying. But before making the exit a man grabbed her and walked her roughly to the office. “I was so scared. We didn’t have a phone so they couldn’t call my mom. After a stern scolding, I was told never to come back, and I never did, and I never told anyone.”
Marilyn and her mother moved to Sturgis, Michigan in 1941, when she was 14. Marilyn says, “It was a brand-new life. I made friends in high school going to games and dances. I was a reporter for the school paper and the yearbook. I sketched pictures and wrote poetry. World War II was underway and many things were rationed. After graduation most boys were enlisting and being sent overseas. My boyfriend, who I called “Jonesy,” was sent to Iwo Jima. I worked three jobs so I could attend Western which was not yet a university. I remember when “Jonesy” came home I flew down the stairs and into his arms. We went to a movie, and he pulled out a diamond ring.” Marilyn proudly showed me the ring still on her finger.
Marilyn Jones holding a photo of herself taken in 1945 at the age of 19.
After a simple wedding the couple bought a small cottage with an outhouse and a pump in the kitchen. Later the couple bought the home in Schoolcraft that Marilyn still resides in. Marilyn turns somber: “Living as long as I have, I’ve lost my husband and three sons. Still living are one son, two daughters, 6 grandchildren, and a very smart 10-month-old great grandson,” which she calls a “fine family.” Marilyn claims that when she hit 90, she thought, “Wouldn’t it be something if I lived to 100?” She will make no predictions when she turns 100 but knows she’s not yet ready to leave.
She is asked where along the way her interests turned to writing. “My grandmother wrote poems and one called ‘Since Marilyn Came’, which shared how happy she was that I was here made a lasting mark on her.”
Marilyn adds, “When I do finally go I think God will say, “You did good.” I can’t believe I’ve reached 100 already!”
