Marilyn Jeppson Choules passed away peacefully surrounded by family on Tuesday, April 11, 2017 after a long struggle with a difficult illness.
Born in Berkley, California on Friday, July 12, 1940, Marilyn was the second of six children to Gertrude Elnora "Kay" King and Lee Ralph Jeppson. She grew up in Riverside, California and attended Brigham Young University where she graduated in 1962 with a degree in Art Education.
After graduating, she moved to Miami, Florida with her husband Jim Lowry, where she began raising their five children. When they divorced in 1978, she moved with the children to Phoenix, Arizona. While living there and raising her children, she continued her education at Arizona State University, earning a Master of Education in Counselor Education in 1979 and a Master of Counseling in 1981. She received her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from BYU in 1989.
Marilyn began private practice in family counseling in Phoenix which she continued to maintain throughout her life wherever she lived. In 1987, she was married to Albert Choules, Jr. in the Salt Lake Temple by then-President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Gordon B. Hinckley. When Albert was called by the Church to the Quorum of the Seventy in 1989, they moved to Salt Lake City. A year later they moved to Frankfurt, Germany where Marilyn supported Albert in his service in the Europe Area Presidency. While living in Germany near the U.S. Army Base, she offered her counseling services free of charge to many American soldiers and their families stationed there.
After three years, Marilyn and Albert returned to Salt Lake City where she built a new marriage and family counseling practice. She served hundreds of families across the valley. She was a counselor for over 30 years and retired in 2012.
Marilyn was a dedicated and faithful member of the Church throughout her life. She served in the Primary, the Young Women's, and the Relief Society organizations, and served as a mentor to many of the young people in the Avenues Singles Ward where Albert served as a bishop. In her retirement, she joined Albert in service as the Matron of the Mesa Temple in Arizona. Marilyn's family is grateful for the love and service of her friends in the Brighton Gardens Branch and the staff at Brookdale. Her family is particularly grateful to Roger Cannon, her loyal, thoughtful, "very special friend" in her final years.
Marilyn had an eye for detail and an artistic spirit. She loved dance her whole life, practicing ballet from ages 5 to 16. She was awarded a scholarship in elementary school which allowed her to take many different kinds of dance lessons and express her love for movement in many forms. She also loved to read; she spent many Saturday afternoons as a child in the local library and carried the habit with her for life. In her retirement, she took up painting again, particularly oil and watercolor. She was thoughtful, quick to share a laugh, and lend a listening ear.
Marilyn had an abiding love for her family. She made a point of getting to know each grandchild individually, caring for them in many ways, despite the distances that sometimes separated them. Her grandchildren remember the thoughtful, handmade keepsakes she carefully made for them at each stage of life. She was grateful to spend so many hours with each grandchild and her family in her later years. She will be dearly missed by her family and many friends.
Marilyn is preceded in death by her daughters, Jena and Denise, her sister Joan Fricke, and her husband, Albert. She is survived by her sisters, Annalee Larson, Donna Wheeler, and Lynne Kohler; her brother Lee Ralph Jeppson, Jr.; her children, Michelle Macfarlane (John), Jim Lowry III, and Jonathan Lee Lowry (Stephanie); her stepchildren, Bob Choules (Sharon), Bill Choules (Melanie), and Tammy Pinnock (Larry); her 25 grandchildren; and her 10great-grandchildren.
Marilyn's funeral will be held on Saturday, May 13 at 11am in the Federal Heights Ward Chapel at 1300 Fairfax Road in Salt Lake City, Utah. Respects and condolences can be paid online at larkinmortuary.com. Marilyn's family is deeply grateful for their dear mother and grandmother.
