November 16, 2022 Marilyn Sue Brokaw, 85

Memorial Graveside Celebration of Life Services for Marilyn Sue Brokaw, age 85, Prescott, Arizona, formerly of Lenox, who passed away Friday, November 4, 2022 at her son Matthew’s home will be held Monday, November 21, 2022 at 11:00 AM at the North Fairview Cemetery in Lenox. Visitation will be held Monday morning at the Ritchie Funeral Home from 9 AM until service time with the family greeting friends. Memorials may be given in Sue’s name. Memories may be shared with the family at www.ritchiefuneralhome.com under Obituaries. Arrangements were entrusted to the Ritchie Funeral Home of Bedford where we ‘Celebrate Life’.
Marilyn Sue (Susy) Brokaw, 85, of Prescott, Arizona, passed away on Friday, November 4, 2022 at her son Matthew’s home in Prescott Valley, surrounded by both sons and two grandchildren.
Susy Brokaw was born on January 26, 1937 in Garden Grove, Iowa to the late Delbert F and Mildred V (Brunotte) Woolley. She was the third of 4 children, with older sisters Donna and Wanda, and younger brother Fred. The family settled in Lenox, Iowa in 1947.
On June 17, 1956 in Lenox, Iowa, she married Frank L. Brokaw. They had two sons in Skokie, IL, Mark and Mathew, before settling in South Bend, Indiana in 1965.
In South Bend, Marilyn earned Bachelors and Masters degrees in Education from IUSB, and taught at Twin Branch Elementary in Mishawaka, Indiana for 28 years. She was an active member of Grace United Methodist Church, and after retirement donated time to Ronald MacDonald House and as a docent with the South Bend Historical Museum. She loved gardening, finding and refurbishing antiques and teddy bears, and following Big Ten, Notre Dame, and Chicago sports teams. Sue and Frank would often travel to wherever their sons were working, and spoil the grandchildren. A highlight every year was the grandkids-only summer visit to grandma and grandpa’s house.
She moved to Prescott, Arizona earlier this year, after spending 57 years in South Bend, to be closer to family.
Family remaining to cherish Sue’s memory include her son Mathew of Prescott Valley, Arizona, son and his wife Mark and Nancy of Manchester, WA and their children and spouses Jason Brokaw and Jaime Benson of Seattle, Kelsey Brokaw of Manchester, and Marcianne and Curtis Neibaur of Boise, Idaho and their children, great granddaughters Lilah and Claire Neibaur.
Sue is also survived by her brother and his wife Fred and Linda Woolley of Omaha, brothers-in-law Ron Wurster of Lenox, and Paul and wife Marilyn Brokaw of Lenox, sisters-in-law Cathy Gavend of Denver, and Kate Buroker of Cedar Rapids, and numerous beloved nieces, nephews, and their families.
Sue dedicated so much of her life to helping children as a mother and grandmother, educator, and in charitable endeavors, yet found time to travel all over the world with her husband and sons. She visited parts of all seven continents, and from Pt. Barrow, Alaska to Antarctica, and made friends wherever she went.
In her memory, Sue requested, “Give a book to a child.”