Marilyn Louise Criche

Marilyn Louise Criche (nee Vose), died peacefully on the afternoon of Thursday, March 26, 2026 - just 78 days shy of her 100th birthday. Marilyn was born in DeKalb, Illinois, the second of six children born to George “Bud” and Ruth “Ruthie” Vose. When she was a teenager, the family moved to Joliet and she attended Joliet Township High School where she met the love of her life, Jay Criche in her freshman physiology class. From that moment on they were inseparable and spent the next 72 years together. Considered to be smart by all who knew her, Marilyn loved to learn and was a student her whole life. She was her high school valedictorian and graduated in the top 5% of her class with a degree in education from Northern Illinois Teachers College. Never idle, in her mid-40s, she went back to school to get her master’s degree from National Lewis University, where she had the unique distinction of being the only graduate to write their master’s thesis on spelling! Marilyn was creative and resourceful, but tough and disciplined, which made her the perfect 2nd grade teacher. Known for her high standards, she expected, encouraged, and brought out the best in her Sheridan School students for over 25 years. A natural leader and an organizer, Marilyn is often described as “a force.” She donated her energy and talents to the community in many ways. In 1970, she and her husband, Jay and others helped create the local community theatre, CenterStage (formerly Group For…). Several years later when the theatre needed a permanent home, they joined forces with other community leaders to establish the Gorton Community Center ,which still serves the community over 50 years later. But first and foremost, Marilyn was a wonderful wife and mother, and her family was her priority – both immediate and extended. Whether she was sewing Halloween costumes, keeping score for the girls’ softball team, gathering props for a show, explaining math homework, driving to gymnastics meets, or discussing books, crewing, trains, or film with her grandchildren, she always put others before herself. Well-established as the family “boss,” the annual Thanksgiving dinners she hosted for the entire Vose clan are now a well-remembered and much-loved memory for the family. Marilyn moved to Lake Forest Place for the last chapter of her life, where she spent time with old and new friends, sat on countless committees, watched her beloved sports – football, baseball (Go Cubs!), basketball, golf, tennis – and then discussed the games at Sports Club meetings, attended numerous programs, plays and concerts, read voraciously, and ended everyday completing a Chicago Tribune crossword. Marilyn is survived by her daughters, Debra (Wayne) Mell and Pam (Skoo) Walker, and three grandchildren: Kevin Mell, and Casey and Carley Walker, as well as her sister Caryl Thomas, and brother Robert “Bob” Vose, and many, many wonderful nieces and nephews, and their many offspring. Marilyn was preceded in death by her husband, Jay, parents George and Ruth Vose, sisters, Beverly Kelton, Elaine Pekar, and Georgene Edwards, and their husbands, Robert, Ray, and Donald, and nieces Cheryl Kelton, Marcia Pekar, and nephew David Kelton. Marilyn’s Celebration of Life service will be held on Saturday, April 11, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. in the Vail Room at Lake Forest Place, 1100 Pembridge Drive, Lake Forest, Illinois. Interment will be private. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in her memory to The Church of the Holy Spirit Choir Fund, 400 E. Westminster Road, Lake Forest, IL 60045 or the Geneva Foundation of Presbyterian Living Spiritual Life Fund - Lake Forest Place, 8707 Skokie Blvd., #400, Skokie, IL 60077 or online at Geneva Foundation | Presbyterian Living Communities.

Marilyn Louise Criche

June 12, 1926 - March 26, 2026