Marilyn Ruth (Loar) Mallott, 91, died on December 16, 2022 at Glenn Park Assisted Living, surrounded by loving family members.

Marilyn was born in Emmaus, PA to Townsend (Hilton) and Geraldine (Minier) Loar on January 1, 1931. After many moves in her elementary school years because of her dad's changes of jobs in the depression, the family moved to Metamora, OH in 1940, where she graduated from high school in 1948. She earned her Bachelor's degree in education from Defiance College in 1951, where she was named to Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities and was May Queen her senior year. She also earned her Master's Degree at Bowling Green State University. She was a "foodie" by her own account and with her degree in education, she intended to teach Home Economics.

At Defiance College she met Gerald Mallott, the special man she married in 1952, on June 6, the wedding anniversary of both sets of parents. While her husband attended United Theological Seminary in Dayton, she had two different teaching jobs at nearby Sidney, OH. In 1954, they moved to Defiance where he served on the staff of Defiance College for almost forty years and was the interim or visiting minister for several area churches.

Marilyn and Gerry started a family in 1955 and she returned to teaching in 1963, first at Fairview High School where she was a librarian and taught English, Speech, and Drama and directed plays. She ended her career at Defiance where she became the junior high librarian.

Along the way, she dabbled in her foodie interests as she made the finals of the 14th Grand National Pillsbury Contest. She did not win, but had a free trip to New York City for her and her mother, and won a range with her entry "Choco-Cherry Pie." She continued to enter the contest yearly as she sought to come up with a winning recipe.

The "Foodie" in Marilyn really showed when Marilyn and Gerry operated the Mallott Dinner House in Ayersville, OH. Marilyn's passion for not just cooking, but entertaining was on display at through with the Dinner House.  They served parties, ranging in size from 8-40 people and were by reservation only. Marilyn made homemade breads for every group as well as meats, numerous side dishes, and gourmet desserts. They ended the Dinner House business after Marilyn suffered severe injuries in an automobile accident.  They moved back to Defiance in 1996 after selling the business.

Marilyn was also known as an artist, a poet, and an author. She was a longtime member of the Society of Artists in Defiance and particularly liked watercolor painting. Her friends and family remember her homemade greeting cards (mainly birthday) in which she used a face-on-body software application to make cute greetings. She also took great pride in her Christmas letters.

As a writer, she authored six books, including, Presidential Profiles and Palates, Loar Lore, Minier Memories (the last two of which were genealogy books, which were each about 350 pages long).

Besides her artsy passions, Marilyn loved to golf.  She started at the age of 50, accompanied daughter, Martha, on many of her golfing trips, and had the accomplishment of winning some handicapped tournaments at Kettenring Country Club and pro-am tournaments with her children as well as recording a hole-in-one when she was 74.  Marilyn played golf up to the age of 86.

Before her sight decreased, she played in three bridge clubs and she and her husband, Gerry, played regularly in a couples' bridge club.  They also played Scrabble almost nightly. She enjoyed playing cards with special friends, singing on their Sing-Along Days, and dining with special friends at Glenn Park.  She really enjoyed the staff there, who were very kind to her, especially when she had health struggles.

Besides the Society of Artists in Defiance, Marilyn sang in choral groups (high school, college, church, and community), was a member of the American Association of University Women, Current Event Club, Defiance College Women's Club, Defiance College Women's Commission, Defiance County Genealogy Society, Defiance Hospital Auxiliary, Fairview Book Club and Friends of the Defiance Public Library, where for 20 years she took an active role on the executive board in fundraisers, coordinating theater trips and chairing Art in the Park.

Besides her parents and her husband, Marilyn was predeceased by her sister, Shirley (Loar) Zabonick, brother-in-law, Richard Zabonick, and nephew Randy Loar.  She is survived by children, Paul (Pamela Ward) Mallott; Philip (Becky Schwind) Mallott; Martha (Sara Leifheit) Mallott; grandchildren, Andrew (Blair), Patrick (Anita), Aaron (Alicia), Amanda, Kathleen, and Daniel (Jessica) Mallott, Matthew Grafton, and step-grandchildren, Nicholas and Michael VanBelle; 10 great grandchildren, cousins and nieces and nephew.

Visitation will be from 4-7 p.m. on Wednesday, December 21 at Schaffer Funeral Home, located at 529 Jefferson Ave. Services for Marilyn will be at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, December 22 at St. John United Church of Christ.  Burial will follow the service at Riverview Memory Gardens.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to St. John UCC (950 Webster St., Defiance, OH 43512) or the Mallott Scholarship Fund, c/o the Defiance College (701 N. Clinton St., Defiance, OH 43512).

Schaffer funeral home was honored to assist the family with arrangements.