Marilyn E. Auvermann's Obituary
Marilyn E. Coffman Auvermann, 82, of Dallas, died peacefully in her sleep on Sunday morning, November 29, 2015. Marilyn was born October 18, 1933 in Shawnee, Oklahoma, to William E. and Agnes Waldrop Coffman. She earned degrees in education and mathematics from Abilene Christian College and North Texas State University. She married Harry J. Auvermann in 1957 and settled in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex, punctuated by two years in Lexington, Massachusetts, where she taught elementary school. Education was the centerpiece of Marilyn’s life. She taught mathematics at the Greenhill School in Addison, Texas; Sandia Preparatory School and Albuquerque Academy in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Lakehill Preparatory School in Dallas; and several schools in the Dallas and Highland Park Independent School Districts. She also tutored students outside of the classroom and delighted in their successes. Marilyn held extra jobs as a real estate agent and a field-hockey coach in Albuquerque before beginning a new career as a bank executive in El Paso and Dallas. Upon her retirement from Bank of America, she returned to the classroom and the tutoring table until early 2015, when her health would no longer permit. Over the past 20 years, Marilyn was a donor to and frequent advocate for Hillsdale College in Michigan, prizing for others the virtues of a classical education of the same quality she had worked sacrificially to provide for her own children. Marilyn was a long-time member of the Skillman Church of Christ, teaching Kindergarteners and first graders about Jesus and the Bible, until her health would no longer permit. As befits a lifelong teacher, she was also a lifelong student, devouring books on Christian discipleship, education, spiritual formation, history, and theology until the very end of her life. Her favorite authors included Michael C. Armour, Dallas Willard, N. T. Wright, and Walter Brueggemann. She loved to attend scholarly lectures and musical performances. Marilyn volunteered with the Caring Hearts program at Baylor Hospital. She was also an active member of the “Barking Pigs” writing group and of her early morning exercise group at the Landry Fitness Center. Marilyn is survived by her husband of 58 years, Harry; her two daughters, Lisa Batzle and Andrea Hills, both of Dallas; a son, Brent Auvermann, of Amarillo; her two brothers, William Coffman, Jr., of McAllen, Texas, and John Coffman of Seattle, Washington; a granddaughter, Catherine Baxter; three grandsons, Samuel, Silas, and Isaac Auvermann; and many nieces and nephews, all of whom brought her great joy. The Auvermann and Coffman families are grateful for all of the physical and verbal expressions of sympathy that they have already received from dear friends touched by Marilyn’s life. Those who wish to make charitable donations in Marilyn’s name, in lieu of flowers, may wish to consider the Dallas Willard Center for Christian Spiritual Formation (part of the Martin Institute for Christianity and Culture at Westmont College, Santa Barbara, California) or The Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture. A memorial service to celebrate Marilyn’s long and productive life will be held at 2:00 pm on Monday, December 14, 2015 at Skillman Church of Christ, 3014 Skillman St., Dallas, TX 75206. (Private interment preceding.) Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Restland Funeral Home and Memorial Park, 13005 Greenville Avenue, Dallas, TX 75243.
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