Marilyn Savage, St. Cloud State Educator And Media Pioneer, Remembered July 18 In Cokato

June 24, 1938 – June 19, 2026

Marilyn Ardis Savage, 87 died from Parkinson’s disease on June 19, 2026 at Ave Maria. She was born June 24, 1938 in Minneapolis, MN to Elmer S. and Mabel A. (Salmela) Sako.

Marilyn graduated from North High class of 1956. She went on to get a Bachelor’s of Science at the U of M. In 1960 she started teaching at John Hay Elementary. In 1975 she married Carl Savage and they went on a leadership conference for media specialists for their honeymoon. In 1982 Marilyn completed her Masters of Science in Information Media at SCSU. Marilyn and Carl were active in the MN Educational Media Organization and published the Minnesota Media magazine. They worked in a group to create Information Media guidelines for the state of MN and Marilyn spoke at events and invited other teachers to observe the curriculum in her media center.

Marilyn touched a lot of lives as a teacher. She was well liked and respected by her students. She commented that it was important to have good relationships with students because you never know when one is going to become your anesthesiologist!

Marilyn and Carl loved to travel and spent many summers in TN visiting his family and in FL where they bought property where they planned on retiring. Their trips were full of adventures like when they unknowingly traveled with a couple of identity thieves.

Marilyn became a widow in 1991 and retired from Zachary Lane Elementary in 1997. Retirement gave her the opportunity to pursue her love of travel. She and her best friend, Jan Sorell, traveled to China and Hawaii together as well as many other smaller trips. Marilyn also visited her nephew in Alaska and even volunteered at a summer camp in Finland. She remained active in her community, helping plan YMCA fundraising events. One of her greatest joys was spending time with her close friends in the “Lunch Bunch,” who gathered each week at their favorite restaurant.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband Carl, sister Evon and fur babies Sase, Sadie and Chloe.

She is survived by nieces Lauren Sako (Scott Krein) Jamestown, ND; Elaine (Keith) Pyle Crystal Lake, IL; stepson Clay (Anita) Savage Hernando, MS; nephew Dave (Lisa) Hendrick Anchorage, AK; niece Theresa Brown Counce, TN; grandnephew Benjamin Salomonsen Hubert, NC; grandniece Natalie (Nik) Eccless Duelm, MN; two great grandnieces and many cousins.

A celebration of life will be held at Benson Funeral Home on July 18th. Visitation at 10am and service at 11am. Lunch after the service. Following the luncheon, Marilyn will be laid to rest at the Cokato Finnish Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family prefers memorials to the Carl & Marilyn Savage Scholarship in Information Media at St. Cloud State University. https://scsu.mn/give