Marilyn Elaine Steward, 94, passed away peacefully on July 19, 2026. She was born in 1932 in Ottumwa, Iowa, to Floyd and Dorothy Jones. Marilyn studied dance as a young girl. During the late 1940s, in her high school years, she performed with a local professional dance troupe known as the Danner Dancers. She also worked at a neighborhood drugstore soda counter where her specialty was crafting the perfect chocolate malted. It was during those years that she captured the heart of her high school sweetheart, Tom Steward, or "Tommy" to her. They married in 1949, beginning a beautiful partnership that spanned 69 years until his passing.

In the early 1950s, while Tommy was stationed at the El Toro Marine Corps Base, she worked for the Hunt Foods Company in Southern California. After Tommy completed his tour in the Marines, they moved every few years with his job at Sutherland's, living in Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas before settling in Tulsa. As their family grew in the 1960s and 70s, she became a familiar face in her community hosting Tupperware and Mary Kay Cosmetics parties.

Marilyn was dedicated to her family. She was a Brownie Troop Leader for Jan and a Cub Scout Den Mother for Ken. In the 1980s and 90s, she worked side-by-side with her husband as the secretary for the Osage Door Company.

Marilyn enjoyed traveling with Tommy on work trips and adventures to theme parks in Orlando with the grandkids. The family made vacation trips to travel destinations including Amelia Island, The Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Hollywood, San Francisco, Delaware, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Seattle, The Redwood Forest, Orlando, New York, and other vacation spots across the United States. Marilyn and Tommy also made two trips to Hawaii. After the first trip, they just had to go back.

An avid crafter, Marilyn found joy in crocheting and working with ceramics. She even hosted classes for neighbors and friends on pouring, finishing, and firing ceramic projects as a hobby.

She had a love for old movies and TV shows, particularly television shows from the 1970s and 80s. She could often be found with the Game Show Network keeping her company all day long.

Marilyn loved a good joke, especially one that her good friend, Elaine Anderson, introduced to her. She loved to fill greeting cards and birthday cards with glitter confetti. If you weren't ready for it, you would get covered in glittery confetti, on and in your clothes, all over the furniture, and onto the floor. It was a mess, but you had to laugh, because you should have known it was coming.

Whether it was family gathered around the dining room table to play Spinner and board games or matching tiles on her iPad playing Mahjong, she loved the challenge of a good game. Marilyn was fiercely competitive and didn't like to lose. During her recent stay in skilled nursing, she would ask daily if they were playing Bingo today. She wanted to beat the socks off the other old folks, at least those that were wearing socks.

Marilyn also had a deep affection for animals. Over the years, her home was filled with the love of several Chihuahuas, a Great Dane, a few Heinz 57 dogs, a few cats, gerbils, fish, and a cockatiel that she taught to speak. Her care for creatures extended to her backyard, where she faithfully fed the local birds and squirrels, finding pleasure in watching them gathered outside her patio door.

Marilyn is survived by her three children, Doug Steward and his wife Thelma "Tigi", Jan Sell and her husband Bob, and Ken Steward. She was the proud grandmother of Chris Sell and his wife Susan, Brandon Sell and his wife Megan, and Andrea Day and her husband Justin. She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Tommy, and her parents. She was a wonderful wife, daughter, mother, and grandmother. She will be dearly missed by all who knew her.

Service is August 1, 2026 at 10:00 am at Moore's Southlawn Funeral Home, 9350 E. 51st Street, Tulsa, OK. Entombment to follow at Memorial Park Cemetery at 5111 S. Memorial Drive.

Memorial Donations

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in Marilyn's name to: Clarehouse of Tulsa, OK. 7617 S. Mingo Road, Tulsa, OK 74133, Ph 918-893-6150 clarehouse.org/donate