Marilyn Ruth Aeschliman

Marilyn Ruth Aeschliman passed away on July 5, 2018, in Arlington, Texas at the age of 87. She was born in Memphis, Tenn. on October 29, 1930, to Vassar and Harry Ashburn. She graduated from high school in Memphis in 1949 and moved to Sacramento, Calif. to live with an older sister. She was employed for two years at the Sacramento Bee Newspaper before entering Whitworth College in Spokane to train for Christian Service. It was necessary for her to drop out of college after two years because of student debt. She completed her Bachelor's degree at Cal State Long Beach in 1977, during two furlough years while a member of Wycliffe Bible Translators. On March 2, 1956, she married Wayne Aeschliman after his discharge from active duty in the U.S. Navy. They returned to the family farm in the Onecho community near Colfax, Wash; their two sons, Daniel and Paul, were born there in 1957.

Sensing a call to mission work, they joined Wycliffe Bible Translators in 1960. Their first assignment was to the Philippines where they served for eight years. A daughter, Lynn, was born in Manila in 1963. In 1969, they were reassigned to Nepal to begin a flight program and served there for seven years. In 1978, they were assigned to Darwin, Australia and served there for five years before returning to the United States for assignment at the Wycliffe Headquarters in Huntington Beach, Calif.

As the wife of a pilot, Marilyn was called on to do many different jobs. Some of these included: radio operator, base hostess, buyer, bookkeeper, school teacher, and secretary, among others. In retirement, Marilyn volunteered in the community and particularly enjoyed serving as a volunteer at the local hospital in Newport Beach. After a move to Arlington, she found another hospital, where she volunteered until a month before she passed away.

Marilyn is survived by her husband of 62 years, Wayne, in Arlington; three children, Dan (Betsy) of Corona, Calif., Paul of Los Angeles, Calif., and Lynn Hohulin (Dan) of Arlington; six grandchildren and one great-grandson. She was preceded in death by five siblings.

Memorial services are being held on Saturday, July 21, at 11 am at Onecho Bible Church. The graveside service will be held at the Colfax Cemetery prior to memorial services at 9:30.

An online guestbook can be found at http://www.bruningfuneralhome.com. Bruning Funeral Home of Colfax is caring for the family.