Marilynn Elizabeth Logsdon Doenges “Nurse Betty” – July 29, 2024

Our amazing mother, Marilynn Doenges slipped peacefully away from this life and the people she loved so much in the early morning of July 29, 2024, at the age of 101 years and 9 months.

Marilynn Elizabeth Logsdon Doenges was born in her maternal grandmother’s house in East Canton, Ohio on November 15, 1922, to Alma Zimmerman Logsdon & David Logsdon. She had two sisters, Miriam Denham & Gwen Bungart. Marilynn lived mostly with her father in Independence, MO, Kansas City, MO and Denver, CO. Marilynn also lived some with her mother in Canton, OH.

FUN FACT:  Places she lived: Marilynn lived both in a cemetery and above a funeral home, both in Independence, MO. She also lived in the Denver Junior League Preventorium. The school she was attending decided that she and her older sister were too skinny and needed to be fattened up to prevent tuberculosis. It was not a fun experience, and their dad came and took them out as soon as he could.

Marilynn skipped junior high and went to 4 different high schools, one for each year and graduated at 16 from Northeast High School in Kansas City, MO in 1939.

Marilynn developed a desire to be a nurse at a very young age. She has said “I was fortunate that I was one of those kids who always knew what they wanted to do.”

FUN FACT: When she first applied to nursing school, she was turned away because she was too young.

Marilynn graduated from Aultman Hospital School of Nursing in Canton, OH. When WWII started, she enrolled in the Red Cross, which was a commitment to enlist in the Army upon graduation. She was too young to take the Nursing Boards upon graduation as a Registered Nurse and had to wait until she was 21. She worked in Aultman Hospital until she could take the state Nursing Boards, which she did in late 1943.

In 1944, Marilynn joined the Army Nurse Corps which turned out to be for only 19 months, but which provided a lifetime of memories. She completed basic training at Fort Benjamin Harrison, IN. Then she was assigned to the Fifth Service Command, Ashford General Hospital, W.Va. (The Greenbrier Hotel Resort), a Neurovascular Surgical Center. They did everything from orthopedic, medical, neurological, and spinal cord patients. Many patients were soldiers from the Battle of the Bulge, who came to them just six days from being at the front.

Prior to V-E Day, her European Theater service began when she boarded the cruise ship “Ile de France” which was converted to a troop transport. They zigzagged across the Atlantic to keep away from German U-boats. There were blimps flying above them that were tasked with looking for the U-boats and alerting the ships to the locations of the U-boats. The ship landed in Gourock, Scotland on VE day. The nurses still had to relieve the nurses that were rotating home. They went from Scotland to Bath & Bristol, England and were assigned to 94th General Hospital.

While in England Marilynn visited London, Norwich, Anne Hathaway’s Cottage in Stratford Upon Avon, Cheddar and just around the local countryside. She has great memories of the beautiful flowers that were blooming everywhere. She finally had an opportunity to go to Cardiff, Wales.

FUN FACT: Her paternal grandmother came from Llanelli, Wales.

Later, Marilynn left Dover, England for duty in France: Le Havre to Normandy to Mourmelon-Le-Petit (the 221st General Hospital & the 227th General Hospital) thru Paris back to Normandy and then finally to Marseilles.

Marilynn developed very proficient nursing skills due to the many different medical situations she found herself in while taking care of the troops, including night shifts in the psychiatric ward, where two nurses were Supervisors of the whole hospital. She developed her love of psychiatric care during the war.

FUN FACT: Marilynn and her best friend took advantage of the opportunity to go to many places in Europe. Whenever there was a military flight going somewhere and it had extra seats they would hop aboard. They also traveled by train and by truck. They went to Athens, Rome, Pisa (to see the Leaning Tower), Naples, skiing in Switzerland, and many places in France including Paris several times, Nice, the Riviera several times, Carcassonne (the Walled City), Lourdes, and Reims.

FUN FACT:  Marilynn attended an audience with the Pope while in Rome, she managed to be in the front row and her best friend even kissed the Pope’s ring.

FUN FACT: While traveling & waiting – Marilynn played cards a lot and crocheted a tablecloth, Queen Ann’s lace pattern, that she kept for the rest of her life.

 In March 1946, Marilynn received orders to go home, but she wasn’t allowed to notify her family. She left Le Havre on the Navy ship, the “USS General Anderson.”

FUN FACT: She worked in the ship’s Infirmary & got an extra daily meal for doing so (she said the food was very good!).

The ship sailed into New York Harbor, and they saw the Statue of Liberty. It felt good to be home!

FUN FACT:  The very day Marilynn arrived home, her mother, who had not been told anything about her coming home, had a “feeling,” and had made her favorite meal — Liver and Onions! Her mother also told her younger sister to go to the door to let her in before she was even on the porch.

Marilynn was discharged from the service in April 1946, as 1st LT Marilynn E. Logsdon.

Marilynn’s Army Nurse Corps service was a great adventure and opportunity to take care of so many great young men. She believes World War II changed her in many ways. Mostly it gave her a broader view of the world. It taught her how ugly war can really be. The nurses worked hard and played hard.

When Marilynn came back to the United States, she worked for a while at Aultman Hospital and then decided to use her GI Bill benefits to get a B.S. in Nursing from the University of Colorado. Marilynn met her husband Dean at the university. She didn’t finish her B.S. in Nursing until 1968 due to raising their five children. In 1974, she received her Master of Arts in Education, Guidance and Counseling.

Marilynn and Dean were married in LaJunta, CO on May 29, 1948, and moved to Chanute, KS before moving to Colorado Springs in 1949, where they lived for the rest of their lives. They were married for almost 50 years before Dean passed away in 1997.

Nursing was a good career for Marilynn while raising her five children. Her many jobs included surgical nursing, private duty nursing and psychiatric care nursing. Marilynn also was a school nurse for several years. She was an educator, teaching nursing first at Penrose’s Seton School of Nursing and then at Memorial’s Beth-El School of Nursing.

FUN FACT:  She taught a class on “Sex and Aging” for UCCS/ Beth-El College of Nursing and Health Sciences.

FUN FACT: After an article about her was printed in the Gazette,”84-year-old nurse doesn’t mince words about sex”, the Tonight Show with Jay Leno contacted her and asked her to send an audition tape for a possible appearance on the show. Unfortunately, there was a writers’ strike and after it finally ended, the show had forgotten all about her.

Marilynn had a private counseling practice for many years after teaching. Marilynn co-wrote best-selling Nursing Care Plans books, Nursing Diagnosis books & Nursing Pocket Guides for FA Davis Publisher. Her books have been translated into many languages and are sold worldwide.

Marilynn supported and ran the local widows’ group for many years after her husband Dean died. She also volunteered for the AARP telephone support group after 9/11 for several years.

Marilynn enjoyed reading, crocheting, knitting, watching TV & spending time with her family. She also loved to travel. She went to China twice with groups of nurses for People-to-People International. She was invited to Switzerland where she spoke at a Nursing Diagnosis Conference. In 2003 she went on a Mediterranean cruise with her daughter, Nancy, and son-in-law, Jim, and was able to revisit many of the places she had visited during the war including Marseille, Rome and Athens. She also went on a cruise to Hawaii with Jim and Nancy. One of her favorite travel activities was to go to her time-share in Avon with grandchildren and great-grandchildren, who loved going to GGMa’s mountain house, as they called it. In the 1970’s she took up belly dancing and loved to belly dance for anyone.

FUN FACT: When Marilynn had her appendectomy, she put her belly button jewel in her belly button before the surgery and her doctor said, “Only you would do that!”

Marilynn was excited to fly in a hot air balloon one year at the Colorado Springs Balloon Classic.

She loved going to the Sack lunch Serenade, a weekly summer and December concert on the Mighty Wurlitzer Theater Organ at the City Auditorium and at the Organ Gym at Immanuel Lutheran Church. She and Dean went for years and after Dean passed, she and Nancy continued the tradition.

Marilynn went on the Honor Flight to Washington DC twice. She went on the first trip with the Northern Colorado group with her sister Miriam, who was also a WWII veteran. She went on the second trip with the Southern Colorado group. They asked for a nickname, and she said Betty (her mother’s side of the family always called her Betty) and she became known as “Nurse Betty” to all the friends she made on that trip.

When her children were little, Marilynn not only worked as a private duty nurse, but she also sewed most of the kids’ clothes and crocheted and knitted hats, sweaters, and mittens. She made sure they all had music lessons and art lessons. She made picnic lunches for their adventures in the back yard, including “driving” their father’s model A to the “beach”. She was an amazing, wonderful mother!

Marilynn is pre-deceased by her mother Alma Logsdon, her father & stepmother David & Ginger Logsdon, her sister Miriam Denham, brothers-in-law Dale Denham and John Doenges and her husband Dean Doenges.

Marilynn is survived by her sister Gwen Bungart of Ohio, her 5 children Nancy Daigle (Jim), David Doenges (Monita), Jim Doenges, Barbara Doenges (Robert Lanza), & John Doenges (Holly), her 7 grandchildren Matt Doenges (Tish Christensen), Tyler Doenges, Jennifer Smith-Daigle (Brandon), Jonathan Daigle (Kim), Nicole Poulos (Matthew), Kelsey Mack (Kyle) & Michelle Houdek (Mike) and 10 great grandchildren Gabriella Mendosa, Sara Doenges, Nalya Doenges, Alan Smith-Daigle, Henry Smith-Daigle, Chris Willow Smith-Daigle, Jayden Daigle, Connor Ericson, McKenzie Houdek & M.J. Houdek. Marilynn is also survived by many nieces & nephews as well as all their families.

We wish to acknowledge a special friend of Marilynn’s at MorningStar, Ethel. Ethel always used to say that she and Marilynn “ran this place” (MorningStar).

Marilynn is also survived by so many friends & we wish to acknowledge those that gave her so much support in the last few years by visiting and sending cards & notes. Diane Kunz who came the most often, Mark Schaefer, Maggie Bott, Mary Moorhouse (her co-author on the books), Geri Tierney, Fran Amos, Nancy, Bob, Leanna & William Wolf, Eve Hoygaard, Chris Hinds, Jae Sanders (who organized the nurses at CommonSpirit Orthopedics to send cards for Marilynn’s 100th birthday), Mike Watkins & Kathe Ellis.

We also wish to make special note of all the nurses in the Society of Air Force Nurses who welcomed Marilynn into their family. Members from across the country sent cards for several occasions. The local group always made sure Marilynn was able to participate in the Veteran’s Day Parade until COVID when she couldn’t go. Since she couldn’t attend the actual parade, they held a parade for her 98th birthday at Summit Glen Independent Living with motorcycles flying American flags from American Legion Post 2008 and cars (with SAFN nurses) that drove up Austin Bluffs Parkway & through the circle in front of the building. The SAFN nurses also organized birthday parties for her 99th & 100th birthdays (they celebrated earlier ones after the Veteran’s Parade over lunch & cake). We want to especially make note of Lynda Alexander (who made it possible for Marilynn to receive a Quilt of Valor for her service in WWII and for memorial bricks for Marilynn, her husband Dean & her sister Miriam in the entrance courtyard at the WWII Aviation Museum), Jean Sanger, Pat Chappell, Mary Littlejohn, Deb Munsell (who made it possible for Marilynn to receive the WWII Honor & Remembrance Medallion), Miriam Santiago & Kathleen.

Her friends would always tell us that Marilynn was their role model, they all want to be just like her.

We also want to acknowledge Joaquina Sotomayor who worked hard to get Marilynn her Living Legend status with the Women’s War Memorial in Washington DC & managed to get it expedited.

Marilynn’s dear friend & eventual co-author, the late Alice Murr, said of nervously meeting this icon of nursing for the first time, “Marilynn came chuckling and beaming into the room. You know that big smile. Everybody everywhere has seen that one!”, thus putting her immediately at ease. Alice asked her, “How did you ever get involved with book writing?”  Marilynn answered, “I showed up.” 

And show up she did…for everything.  She showed up for her husband, for her 5 kids, for her 7 grandchildren, for her 10 great grandchildren, for her students, for her friends, for her patients, for her country, and for anyone that needed her.

Marilynn, with her beautiful smile, had a wonderful 101 years & 9 months.

Marilynn was dearly loved & will be greatly missed by so many!

The family wishes to thank the caring staff at Freedom Home Assisted Living, Cascade House Assisted Living, MorningStar at Mountain Shadows Assisted Living, Gentiva Hospice & Abode Hospice. And a special thank you to Pastor Victoria Isaacs & Liz Kochis of Gateway Presbyterian Church for helping to make Marilynn’s Celebration of Life truly special.

A few of Marilynn’s many awards are listed below:

Colorado Nurses’ Association District #3 – Nurse of the Year – 1977-1978

Recognition by the Modern Woodmen of America, Camp 7226 – For Conscientious and Dedicated Community Service – 1978

Aultman Hospital School of Nursing Outstanding Alumni of the Year – 1986

The Barry Weinhold Counseling & Human Services UCCS Alumni Award – 2004

Colorado Nurses Association Hall of Fame Inductee – 2004

NANDA International Unique Contributions Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Advancement of Nursing Diagnosis – 2008

Colorado Mother of Achievement Award – 2015

World War II Veteran Honor and Remembrance Medallion Award – 2021

Military Women’s Memorial, Washington DC -Living Legend Award – 2022

A service celebrating Marilynn’s amazing life will be on Thursday, September 5th, 2024, at 2:00pm, at Gateway Presbyterian Church 731 Castle Road, Colorado Springs, CO 80904. Please wear something purple or lavender (Marilynn’s favorite colors) or any other bright, cheerful color.  The service will be Live-Streamed on the church’s website, to join go to https://gatewaypres.org a couple of minutes before 2:00 pm and click on the “Click Here to watch Live-Stream” button.

Donations may be made to:

Koshare Indian Museum

Boy Scout Troop 232, 115W. 18th St. LaJunta, CO

The Alzheimer’s Association

Polycystic Kidney Disease Foundation

or a charity of your choice.

“How lucky I am to have had something that makes it so hard to say goodbye.” Pooh

When tomorrow starts without me
don’t think we’re far apart.
For every time you think of me,
I’m right here inside your heart. –

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