Marilyn Peacock
Marilyn B. Peacock, 91, from Bradenton, Fla., passed from this life on February 5, 2025. She was born on May 13, 1933, in Pine Village, Ind., to Jacob Farmer Baker and Hazel Louise (Jones) Baker.
Marilyn graduated from Pine Village High School in 1951 and went on to enjoy many different occupations during her life. Her favorite career was at Strings and Things craft and art store; she was co-founder and co-owner in Sleepy Eye. She contributed as a craft teacher, buyer, salesperson, and designed silk flower arrangements. Her focus as her family grew was in creating a home, loving her family, and managing the family budget to make sure it all worked.
Marilyn was a co-pilot in life as a partner to Dad, Kenneth Peacock (deceased), and as the actual co-pilot on their plane. She helped her husband support the family financially with positions that ranged from department store work to assembly line work at Del Monte when she was needed, to secretarial work in Sleepy Eye Public School system and craft store co-owner and operator.
Marilyn was a creative genius who wasn’t afraid to try something new. She loved gardening, canning, and freezing food for her family. Her flower gardens were gorgeous. She liked to make homemade gifts and to experiment with a variety of art forms; she was exceptionally artistic. Marilyn supported the communities she lived in in many ways, for example as a Bible school organizer and teacher, Sunday school teacher, and Bell Choir member. Marilyn was an active member of many bridge groups and always ready to introduce new members of the Del Monte community to the rest of the crowd. Marilyn loved to meet new people and loved to host all kinds of parties at her home. She most recently helped start a weekly bingo night at Freedom Village of Bradenton where she and Ken spent their last years.
Marilyn valued her partnership with Ken, whom she married in 1951. She loved her three children: Patricia Gayle Hendrich (Howard Hendrich), Elizabeth Susan Hippert, and Frances Louise Peacock (Thomas Callanan). She adored her five grandchildren: Heather May DeJong, Angela Clare Hillesheim (deceased), Benjamin David Hillesheim, Bree Peacock Molinari (Rachel Molinari) and Melanie Thomas Jones-Peacock (Brad Jones-Peacock). Marilyn was blessed with six great-grandchildren and one great-great-granddaughter. Her oldest brother John Jacob Baker and two younger brothers Jacob Gerald Baker and James Joseph Baker preceded her in death.
Kenneth and Marilyn will share a memorial service at Jericho Friends Meeting in Winchester, Ind., in May of 2025. The exact date will be available at Jericho Friends Meeting soon. If you wish, plant native pollinator plants or other flowers in a public space or in your own yard to remember and honor Marilyn’s memory. She created the most beautiful flower gardens and especially loved perennials like iris.
