Marilyn Patricia Dye

Marilyn Patricia Dye

(November 25, 1927 – June 25, 2017)

Marilyn Patricia Dye, age 89, passed away from natural causes at the Woodland Care Center, Woodland, Washington, on Sunday, June 25, 2017, at 11:45 a.m.

She was born Marilyn McSweeney on November 25, 1927, to Simon and LuLu McSweeney in Morristown, South Dakota. She was the only surviving child after a spinal meningitis outbreak claimed her two siblings. Marilyn moved as a young girl to Grand Coulee, Washington, as her father worked on the Grand Coulee Dam. She graduated from high school at the age of 16.

After high school, Marilyn joined the last class of WAVES in 1945, undergoing training at Sacred Heart School of Nursing in Spokane, Washington, to become a registered nurse, her lifelong career. She made many lifelong friends from high school, her training, and early posting.

In 1950, while working at Grand Coulee Hospital, Marilyn met and married Richard Nicolle, with whom she had one son, Michael. Tragically widowed after only six years of marriage, Marilyn faced many adversities in her early adult life with resiliency, largely due to her extensive support network of friends and family.

She married a second time to Richard Raugust in 1958, only to lose their one-year-old daughter, Terri Ann to an adverse anaphylactic reaction. This second marriage ended in divorce in 1961. Recovering from her loss, Marilyn returned to school to acquire a degree in nurse anesthesia.

In 1961, while working at Grand Coulee Hospital in her new capacity as a registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA), she met and married Leonard Albert Dye, a heavy construction electrician. Their marriage lasted 15 years. They had two sons: Kipp and Shane, and took them to many interesting towns across the Pacific Northwest and to Honolulu, Hawaii.

Being a nurse anesthetist brought great joy to Marilyn. She enjoyed the professionals she worked with and her interesting postings including jobs at Pendleton, Oregon; Portland Oregon; Colfax, Washington; and with the Bechtel Corporation for a year in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

In the late 1980s after almost 30 years, Marilyn transitioned out of anesthesia. She worked as Red Cross nursing staff in disaster relief and blood screening until fully retiring in 2005. Post retirement, she volunteered and worked part time for the VFW and for the reserve Navy base. She dearly loved knitting and quilting, books, and especially her grandchildren.

Marilyn faced many challenges in her life and had to make many tough decisions. She was a survivor and that spirit is reflected in the lives and attitudes of her children. Marilyn is survived by Mike Nicolle, of Vancouver Washington; Kipp Dye and his wife, Linda, of Natick, Massachusetts; Shane Dye, of Portland; her grandchildren: Caitlin, Courtney, Sean, and Carolyn Dye of Natick and David Dye, of Calgary Alberta, Canada.

A graveside service is scheduled for Monday, July 10, 11 a.m., at Spring Canyon Cemetery in Grand Coulee. All are welcome to attend and celebrate Marilyn's Life.