Marilyn Barnes
Marilyn Rose Barnes, 92, left this life Sept. 11, 2025, in the home she and her husband Dennis built more than 60 years earlier, on the land bordered by her beloved hills of home. The second child and eldest daughter of Gerald and Katy Logsdon, she was born in her grandmother’s home April 9, 1933. She and Dennis married Nov. 16, 1957, separated only by his death in 2021. They welcomed four children into the world, along with 13 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren.
Marilyn is survived by her daughter, Kate (Tim) Cox; and her sons, Peter (Lisa) and John (Julie); as well as grandchildren, Emilie (Jerry), Caroline (Dougie), Annie (Jonathan), Maggie (Nick), Riley (Leanna), Tyler (Kyle), Eileen, Patrick (Jesse), Joshua (Nikki), Adeline (Bobby), Madeline (Casey) and Olivia (Cody). Her daughter Sarah (Jason) Frey died in 2010, and her granddaughter Elizabeth, in 1997. There are 17 great-grandchildren, Gerald, Roisin, Eddie, Amelia, Daisy, Benji, Cole, Madi, Hadley, Anderson, Walker, Silas, Ezra, Emmett, Evie, Esme and Finn.
Also left to remember her are sisters, Berny (Brad) Billock, Rosy (Otto) Binau, Teresa (John) Amert and Gerry (Emery) Walton; her sister-in-law, Carol (Gene) Logsdon; and step-brothers, Ted and John McCallister. Siblings Gene, Kathleen, Giles and Jenny preceded her in death, as did in-laws Jim (Jenny) Barnes and Carol (Giles) Logsdon and a step-grandson, Michael Allen. Her step-mother, Sarah Logsdon, died in 2020.
Marilyn graduated from Upper Sandusky High School in 1951 and soon after went to work for Dr. C.B. Schoolfield, for whom she would work either full or part-time, for more than 10 years. Dedicated to building a home and life with Dennis and their children, she was an excellent cook and a master of pie crusts, fostering a love of good food even as she encouraged a passion for reading and of the outdoors – teaching her kids the fundamentals of sports from softball to hockey. She enjoyed weaving, birding, mushroom and arrowhead hunting – as well as traveling and helping Dennis with photoshoots – and continued to plant a garden into her 90s.
“To everything there is a season” – Marilyn knew how to pull the very most out of each one, celebrating even minor holidays (Groundhog Day), taking picnics, going sledding or ice skating, going for drives and bird watching or exploring the woods for wildflowers and hunting hickory nuts. She leaves a legacy of grace and dignity – of surviving heartbreak and loss, of going gracefully into old age; she set an example that raised high the bar, and she will be forever remembered and missed.
A memorial gathering has been set for Friday, Sept. 19, from 4-6 p.m. at Lucas-Batton Funeral Home, Upper Sandusky.
Donations may be made to Hospice of Wyandot County, Upper Sandusky Community Library or St. Peter School and can be sent to Lucas-Batton Funeral Home, 476 S. Sandusky Avenue, Upper Sandusky, OH 43351.
Online condolences may be shared at www.lucasbatton.com.
