Dedicated to the memory of Marilyn
Marilyn Lee Vance (1928-2020)
Marilyn Vance, age 92, died in Chapel Hill, NC on July 27, 2020. Marilyn was born in Chicago, IL on March 2, 1928, to James Wilbur Bridge and Ruth Gammill Bridge. She grew up in Elgin, IL and graduated from Elgin High School and later Ohio Wesleyan University where she majored in music education. Marilyn was a talented musician, performing violin recitals beginning at age 5 for community groups under the guidance of her aunt Eicele. She also sang in church choirs and in a barbershop quartet. Following college, she taught elementary music in Royal Oak, MI and worked in a sheet music store in Columbus OH.
Marilyn married Bennett L. “Bud” Vance, then a dental student at Ohio State University, in 1953. They lived in Cambridge, OH and Willoughby, OH before returning to Columbus, where Bud entered oral surgery residency and later opened an oral surgery practice while he was a faculty member at Ohio State. During this time, the couple moved to Worthington, OH, where they lived for 35 years.
Marilyn played violin in string quartets and orchestras throughout central Ohio and she and Bud enjoyed traveling, tent and trailer camping, and trips to visit their son during his escapades in destinations across the continental U.S. and extending to England, Costa Rica, and Alaska. The couple moved to Chapel Hill in 2000 to be closer to their son and family.
Marilyn is survived by her son, Eric Douglas Vance, grandson, Spalding Clark Vance, both of Chapel Hill, her sister and best friend, Judith Bridge Hunter, of Atlanta, GA, and nephews Burtch Hunter of Atlanta, GA and Bridge Hunter of Boston, MA. She was preceded in death by her husband of 59 years, Bennett L. Vance, and daughter-in-law, Anne L. Schroder.
Marilyn was a loving and devoted wife, mother, and grandmother whose supportive and positive personality never faded. She never sought attention and most often did the little things that provided comfort and made life better for others. She was a lifelong Christian and gentle soul who never raised her voice in anger and always had a song in her heart. We will miss her.
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