Marilyn Wines

Marilyn S. Wines (nee Skinner), 84, passed away on March 27, 2015 in Aurora, OH from complications of Parkinson’s disease.  She was born on September 26, 1930 in Confluence, PA, but lived in the Cleveland area most of her life.

The year was 1947 when Marilyn Skinner came to Cleveland as a scholarship student, entering Mather College of Western Reserve University.  After two years of courtship with Noel Wines, whom she met at Epworth-Euclid Church near the campus, they were married.  Consequently, in order to complete her degree, she took night courses and summer classes and completed her degree requirements in 1953 when she received her Bachelor of Arts degree.

She and her husband went to Wellington, OH for his first teaching job, and the next year he taught school in Berea, OH where they lived for seven years.  She took a position in the Personnel Department of Ford Motor Company during her stay in Berea.  When her husband secured a position with University School in Shaker Heights, they moved to Cleveland Heights to be closer to his work.  They lived there for 23 years

Soon after moving to Cleveland Heights, they began a home business for copywriting called Creative Copy, which began to be more of a printing business as the need was there for faster and better copies.  They found a storefront at Mayfield and Lee Roads in Cleveland Heights, where Creative Copy has its home for over 30 years.  The company won one of two business awards by the Chamber of Commerce in 1976 as being the epitome of a small business.  At its most successful period, they had a dozen employees, and the family, now with four children, were employed in some capacity at the shop.  Her husband, after 12 years at University School, decided to close his teaching career and help with the family business.

During this time, they were happy to become parents of four children – two boys and two girls.  Unfortunately, both sons died before their parents.  The two daughters remaining are:  Christine L. Wines and Leslie A. Elia (Vincent).  There are six grandchildren Kristen, Kaitlyn and Nicholas Wines, Allegra, Hugo and Gino Montessi and three great-grandchildren Adrianna, Jean Paul and Antonello Belliard.  Her husband succumbed to Alzheimer’s and died in 2003.

In 1995, Marilyn was diagnosed as having Parkinson’s and after that time she continued to be as active and productive as she could be with the limitations of the disease.  She found time to author a little booklet called “Grandma Marilyn’s Memoirs” for family and friends which covers her life as a youngster in a small town at the end of the Great Depression and World War II.  Included in that memoir is a genealogical over-view of her relatives, many of whom pre-date the Revolutionary War.

Besides her interest in genealogy, she loved to write poetry, mostly humorous or tongue-in-cheek, and also enjoyed entering contests and sweepstakes.  She won many worthwhile prizes during her lifetime, the most interesting being a trip to Italy in 1962 as the result of a recipe contest.

Celebration of Life service in memory of Marilyn will be held at Mayfield Church, 7747 Mayfield Road, Chesterland, OH  44026, on May 30, 2015 at 10:30 AM.  Family will receive friends immediately following services at the church.  For more information, please contact daughter Leslie at ironleslie@sbcglobal.net.