Mom was born on August 23, 1936 in the Rosetown hospital near their home in Feudal. She was the youngest of three children born to Fred and Ella Cooke. Grandpa worked with CP Rail and they moved around a lot. When Grandpa went off to war, Grandma, Mom, and Uncle Bill moved to Victoria, BC. Grandpa returned from the war and moved the family to Codette, Sk. They opened a restaurant called Cooke’s Inn. Mom was working one day in the restaurant when John Diefenbaker came in, he talked to Mom and shook her hand. That gesture cemented her allegiance to the PC party and it has never wavered. After high school Mom went to business college in Saskatoon and then went to work in the business office at SaskTel in Melfort. The Chief Operator at the time was Miss Marshall, she considered her employees “her girls” and she told them to stay away from those SaskPower boys because they were “trouble”. Cupid decided differently and a certain SaskPower boy won his way into Mom’s heart. There began a love story that lasted 64 years. They got married in Codette on August 17th, 1957. Soon after, the farm life called and they moved to Dad’s family farm East of Pleasantdale. Joie arrived in 1958, Lori in 1960, and Kelly in 1965. The days and years were filled with seeding, harvest and in between worrying about the weather. Mom has many diaries filled with, the temperature that day, how much rain, which field they were in, and what they were planting or harvesting. Mom’s greatest joys were her flowers, garden, and Christmas Lights. She would have Dad out in October putting up lights in preparation for Christmas. They went all the way down the lane and Dad would joke that when they turned on their lights, the neighbours lights would dim until the electricity caught up. Summers were filled with planting a huge garden, especially tomatoes. Canning tomatoes was her specialty and she supplied all of us with these canned goodies right up until a couple years ago. Flowers were her passion, and we spent countless hours touring greenhouses, buying and planting flowers. Begonias, Geraniums, Petunias, and her favourite flower, Gladiolas. She planted hundreds of bulbs every spring, enjoyed the beautiful flowers, and then dug them up in the fall to keep for the next year. Mom got great pleasure out of sitting in her backyard admiring the fruits of her labour. When Grandma Cooke moved to Naicam, she and Mom opened a ladies wear store called Mae-Lynn Ladies Wear. Mom got the retail bug and after the store closed, she started selling Northern Sun Parkas made in The Pas, Man. When the Pleasantdale United Church came up for sale, Mom made it her mission to have the Church moved to the Pleasantdale Cemetery, and that is where it rests today. Although there were many people involved in the Church, she considered it “hers”. Mom was fiercely loyal to whatever she believed in. Those being, the PC Party, CP Rail, and Chevrolets. Kelly loved to tease her about these things and would always get a rise out of her. In his goodbye to Mom he promised he would never vote NDP and would always buy Chevs. Mom and Dad were lucky enough to stay on the farm until fairly recently. The ugly disease Dementia took hold, and we had to move Mom to Nirvana Assisted Living Care Home in Melfort. She loved it there and couldn’t say enough about the girls, and also the food. She was very happy. When Dementia dug deeper, Mom moved to Parkland Care Home. Once again the staff there were so very kind to her. We can’t Thank everyone enough from both Nirvana and Parkland. It seemed like just a short time and then she was ready to go to her place in Heaven. She left us peacefully and we are thankful for that. Some of the memories from the Grandchildren are, of course her flowers and garden, her mowing the lawn and how it always looked flawless. Coming up the lane at Christmas and their eyes were wide with excitement at the lights which seemed to go on for miles. The love Mom and Dad had for each other did not go unnoticed. The Grandchildren would see them holding hands and in the later years they often commented that they hope they have a love as strong as their Grandparents. On occasion Mom would take them to the Co-op store in Pleasantdale, where they got pop and chips, while Mom had coffee with her friends. Jaime and Jenna remember Mom always making sure she had lipstick on and earrings in and how nice she always looked. We remember growing up in a loving home. Mom always made us feel loved and we never wanted for anything. Mom was the disciplinarian of our family, and when that wooden spoon drawer opened we would scatter. We all have warm memories and will forever hold them in our hearts. Mom was pre-deceased by her parents Fred and Ella Cooke, her brother Bunny, her in-laws Bev and Arliss Glencross, and Dolly and Orest Lisitza. She leaves behind, the love of her life, our Dad, Ken, her children, Joie (Jerome), Lori (Tim), Kelly (Andrea). Grandchildren, Jaime (Darren), Jenna (Nate), Stephen, Kris, Kyle and Ryan. Great Grandchildren, Braelyn, Caiden, Ivy and Nora. Her Brother Bill (Dorothy) Cooke. Her In Laws, Vi and Don Shields, Bruce and Lila Andersen, and many Nieces, Nephews and friends. Thank You to Kelly Bonk of the Melfort Funeral Home, for his help and kindness in this sad time. Memorial contributions in memory of Marilyn may be directed to the Pleasantdale Cemetery Chapel. Due to Covid-19 a Funeral Service will not be held at this time. To plant Memorial Trees in memory of Marylyn Doris Andersen, please click here to visit our Sympathy Store.