CAMDEN — Marilyn Delphine Smith 1938-2025.

Born to Malcolm and Mamie Young in 1938, Marilyn was raised in a tight-knit fishing community of just seven families, on East Ironbound Island in Nova Scotia, where life was rugged and self-sufficient. She grew up fishing, farming, and tending to cows, pigs, and chickens. School was in a one-room schoolhouse, and trips to the mainland were rare – just a couple of times a year.

When Marilyn was15, she started spending her summers on the mainland working at Lakelawn Lodge where she cleaned the rooms and helped serve the guests. At 18, Marilyn left the island for Halifax, where she became a talented hair stylist - even winning awards for her skill in rolling and permanents. This led to a passion for trying new hair colors and styles - beehives, blonde, striking red, perms - Marilyn has done it all!

Adventurous at heart, she boarded an ocean liner in 1961 and then toured 7 European countries by bus for 3 weeks with a close friend. She saved her money and purchased her first car, a Karmann Ghia, which she drove solo from Nova Scotia to Toronto to see her new boyfriend, Michael Smith.

Marilyn married Michael in 1963 and quickly started a family. Before moving from Toronto to Camden in 1968, she had Stephanie and Joseph. Michael purchased the Belfast Road house soon after they arrived in Camden and Anita was born a couple years later. As with all young families, Marilyn’s life revolved around the kids and keeping an immaculate house.

Summers meant packing up the car with the kids, St. Bernard dogs and everything they needed for a couple of months in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia. Often managing alone, Marilyn took the kids to visit with her parents on Ironbound Island, her sisters & brother and Michael’s side of the family in Halifax.

Marilyn loved skiing and spent many hours shuttling her children to the Snow Bowl. Weekends were often spent away for ski races, in which she would be left standing in the cold, wet Maine winter days to watch them compete. Her kids remember the early mornings, and the LL Bean bag packed full of baloney and cheese sandwiches, Jax and hot chocolate.

In the late 70’s the lure of the sea in Camden was too strong and Michael and Marilyn purchased the first of two J racing boats. Marilyn was the consummate First Mate, Chief Steward and Head Chef or any other role that required her attention. Weekends on those summers were spent on the boat sailing around Penobscot Bay.

In 1984 Marilyn divorced Michael and she started her own business, M & M Services, a successful cleaning company she ran for decades. At its height, she managed up to 15 employees in the summer season. She was incredibly hard working and loyal to her customers - in fact, some of her earliest clients became lifelong friends. Her clients would shake their heads in disbelief as she cleaned their homes in her white shorts and high heels.

The story goes that someone at a 1980’s Color Me Beautiful meeting told Marilyn she was one of the few that could pull off wearing purple, so it quickly became her signature color. This made her easy to spot in a group and very easy to buy gifts for - if it was purple, it was for her. Marilyn also loved music including ABBA, Neil Diamond and Celine Dione - if you phoned, the first thing she usually said was, “Let me turn the music down.”

While Marilyn had large dogs throughout her life, her small dogs Bela and Clyde held an extra special spot in her heart, they were her everything and she loved and missed them deeply.

Marilyn was a devoted member of St. Thomas Episcopal Church and served on the Altar Guild for decades. She was a dedicated attendee to the 7:30/8:00 am Sunday services and had her regular seat in the second to last pew.

Though she spent most of her life in the U.S., Marilyn remained a proud Canadian citizen to the end. Starting as a child, Marilyn loyally followed the Royal Family, writing Queen Elizabeth on her birthdays and receiving thank you notes back from Buckingham Palace. Her children remember her being awake in the wee hours of the morning to watch Palace ceremonies.

Marilyn passed away peacefully in the home she loved on Sunday, May 18.

She will be lovingly remembered by her siblings, Mary, Marina, Maxine, Marion, and Maynard; her three children, Stephanie (Rick) Phelps, Joseph (Jennifer, predeceased) Smith and Anita (Simon) Watkins; her six grandchildren, Emily, Harper, Eric, Cooper, Spencer and Ella, and all those who were lucky enough to know her.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the St. Thomas Building Fund (bell tower) or P.A.W.S. Animal Adoption Center.

Condolences may be shared at www.longfuneralhomecamden.com.

The memorial service will be held Saturday, May 24, 2025, at 12 noon, at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Camden.

Arrangements are with the Long Funeral Home & Cremation Service, 9 Mountain Street, Camden.