Marilyn Rhoton Heal

Marilyn Rhoton Heal was born to Wilson Dow Rhoton and Serene Lila Penrod.  She and her twin sister, Carolyn, were born on October 26, 1938 in Lakeside, Arizona.  They were the fifth and sixth children born to Dow and Lila, out of eight total children in their family.  Marilyn loved growing up in Lakeside.  She often reminisced with fondness about the mischief that she and Carolyn would get into going to school in the old schoolhouse.  She attended Lakeside High School and graduated with seven other people in her graduating class of 1956.On July 20, 1963, she married Joseph Xavier Heal after she graduated from Northern Arizona University with a degree in Home Economics and Elementary Education.  When she told her father that she and Joe wanted to get married, he told her that they were going to "eat old cars for breakfast," because Joe was a mechanic at the time.  This was actually true!  In their first few years of marriage, Joe would buy old cars, fix them up, and sell them for a profit.  This little business put quite a few breakfasts on the table for Joe and Marilyn, and they laughed about the irony of it all.  They had their first child, Jamie Michelle, in McNary, Arizona before moving to San Luis Obispo, California, where they had their second daughter, Tanya.  They eventually moved back to Lakeside because they missed the sunshine and their family, and so they split their time between Lakeside and Florence, Arizona, where Joe was a professor at Central Arizona College.Marilyn had fond memories of growing up as a twin.  She always loved having a best friend in Carolyn.  She once said, "People often ask me how it felt to be a twin."  I have nothing to compare it to, but I always felt like it was the best!"  In her spare time, Marilyn loved to tend to her garden, and she had the most beautiful garden filled with hollyhocks, tomatoes, snapdragons, and petunias.  Marilyn also loved to sew and crochet clothes and blankets for her family and friends.  Additionally, she baked wonderful apple pies, finished all kinds of puzzles, and loved to spend time wither her family and grandchildren.  She never missed a baseball or softball game, always came to every track meet (rain or shine), and always made a point to go to the high school volleyball and basketball games, whether or not she had grandchildren competing.  Her grandchildren loved coming over to her house to cook, do crafts and puzzles, and help her tend to her apple orchard.Along with her parents, she was preceded in death by her daughter, Tanya Heal, and by her husband, Joe Heal.  She was also preceded in death by her brothers, Rex, Verl, and Tommy.  She leaves behind her daughter, Jamie, her son-in-law, Shane, and her grandchildren, Liesl, Landon (Bailey), Lexis, and Levi.  She also leaves behind her sisters, Carolyn, Colleen (Bill), and her brothers, Tim (Chickie) and Kent (LaPreal).  She was such a sweet, funny, and caring woman, and she will be missed so dearly.The funeral service will begin 10:00 A.M., Saturday, December 30, 2017 at the Pinetop/Lakeside Stake Center of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1520 N. Church Lane in Lakeside, Arizona where the visitation will begin 1 hour prior.  The concluding service and interment will immediately follow at the Lakeside Cemetery.  Marilyn's family is grateful for the expressions of sympathy they have received during this difficult time and are especially grateful for all of the prayers offered up on their behalf.