Marilyn R. (Richard) Synnestvedt

   Marilyn Synnestvedt, age 93, of Muskogee, OK, died at a local nursing home on August 2, 2023.
      She was born in Rome, NY, the daughter of William Oscar and Ernestine Wolfe Richard. She grew up in Herkimer, NY and graduated from Herkimer High School in 1948. She received a BFA degree from the College of Ceramics, Alfred University in 1953, with advanced work at Buffalo State Teachers College in 1954. She taught art in the LeRoy, Rochester, Pittsford, NY and in the Memphis, TN public school systems. Then she taught privately in Alliance, OH for over 30 years. In 1958 she graduated with  BM in voice from the Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester, as a student of Metropolitan Opera baritone, Julius Huehn.
      After her marriage June 26, 1960 to Dr. Peter Nilen Synnestvedt, she lived in Memphis, TN, Bloomington, IN and Alliance, OH (36 years) until her final move to Muskogee in 2004 to be near family. Peter was a cellist, college professor and conductor. They were married 44 years.
      Marilyn attended St Paul United Methodist Church where she volunteered in the Good Shepherd Health Clinic and made mission trips to UMCOR Sager Brown in LA. She was devoted to her family, and enjoyed nature, gardening, traveling, music, painting, sewing and poetry writing.
      She was preceded in death by her husband (2004) and her sister, Beverly Richard Thielking, of NY state. 
      She is survived by daughters, Kaia (Dr. Timothy) Holder of Muskogee, Brita (Stephen) Conroy of Bryn Athyn, PA and Mara Lee Synnestvedt of Longmont, CO. Also surviving are 9 grandchildren, Zuri, Malindi and Kiri Holder; Shannah and Benjamin Conroy; Dare, Dierdre, Corrick and Cadence Murray; and several sisters- and brothers-in-law, nieces and nephews. 
     Memorial services will be 3:00 p.m., September 30, 2023 at the St Paul UMC sanctuary. Inurnment of her ashes will occur at a later date in the Mount Union Cemetery, Alliance, OH.
     Memorials may be made to: Bryn Athyn Orchestra, c/o Ellen Keal, P O Box 277, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009 or Alliance Symphony Orchestra, c/o Deborah Martin, 2479 Blenheim Ave, Alliance, OH 44601-4552. 

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Marilyn R. (Richard) Synnestvedt, please visit our floral store.