Obituary of Marilyn Patricia Darnell

Beloved mother, grandmother, aunt, great-grandmother, and great-aunt, Marilyn P. Darnell went home to be with the Lord on February 5, 2024, at the age of 94. She was born in Wellsville, New York to Carl A. and Letta G. Lejonhud and told many stories of her life there and later in Maine, Maryland, and Washington DC. Marilyn studied Bacteriology at the University of Maryland at a time when young women were not actively encouraged to study science and was one of just 2 women in that program. After her children were older, she went on to become a certified phlebotomist in Massachusetts and later in Florida. In the years prior to her retirement from laboratory work in a doctor’s office, she also earned a certificate as an x-ray technician. Marilyn was intelligent, creative, musically inclined and possessed of good sense of humor. She loved the Lord, and she and her first husband (George B. Harmon d.1976) co-led a Christian Endeavor youth group when they were young adults. They continued in their faith and raised 5 children in the church. Marilyn was a choir member and Sunday school teacher, and as an excellent seamstress, made it her mission to sew new robes for the children’s choir at the church the family attended in the 1960s. She supported her husband and sons during Little League baseball season and became a Girl Scout leader when her daughters wanted to join that organization, but the local troops were full. She supported her daughters and other young girls through 7 years of Scouting, teaching skills and encouraging those girls to challenge themselves. A pianist herself, she insisted that her children also learn to play an instrument. Marilyn was active in Eastern Star while living in Massachusetts. She was also a member of a Sweet Adelines singing group and enjoyed the music and camaraderie there. Marilyn loved family and family gatherings. She was adept at planning games and activities for her children when they were young, and later for her adult children and their offspring for the family gatherings. She will be forever missed by her surviving children Glenn Harmon and wife Cheryl, Mark Harmon and wife Marina, Sharon Harmon and “daughter”/niece Pamela Kobett and husband Mike as well as by her many grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and great-niece and great nephew in the US, Germany, and Namibia. Along with her parents, sister and first husband, George Harmon, Marilyn was predeceased by her daughter Tamara Bedenbaugh, son Eric Harmon, and second husband Robert E. Darnell. Marilyn will be interred at Highland Memorial Park in Ocala, Fl.