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On July 28, 2021, at the age of 83, Marilynn Berry Sewall, entered the glorious gates of heaven. She was welcomed by Jesus, her life-long friend and savior. We are confident her arrival also sparked a great celebratory reunion with many family members and friends.

Marilynn was born on Dec. 12, 1937, and was welcomed and loved by her parents, Kenneth and Ruby Berry, and her sisters, Pauline, and Arline. She grew up comfortably within the security of her parents’ tall shadows. In many ways her personality and life reflected the characteristics and values she learned from them. Marilynn was a strong, decisive, wise, adventurous, devoted, confident, hard-working, family-loving, independent woman who loved God.

While she was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Marilynn also lived in New York, Georgia, Tennessee, and Connecticut as her family often moved following her father’s career as an executive with the Kellogg’s Company. Come summertime, it didn’t matter where they lived, her mom packed the girls into the car and headed to their summer camp in Litchfield, Maine. “Camp” became their family’s anchor point and the location of many happy events and memories.

Marilynn attended Colby College, and in 1957 she married Tom Sewall who was from Boothbay Harbor. They had three children, Kenneth, Janice and James.

Marilynn began attending the Boothbay Baptist Church and immediately felt like that was where she belonged. As the church grew, the organist wanted to begin a children’s program in the basement of the church, but she couldn’t play the final hymn and be with the children at the same time, so the pastor asked for a volunteer to help. Marilynn thought she was volunteering to help watch the children; but as God would have it, she “accidentally” volunteered to play the organ each week! That was the beginning of her ministry as church organist which lasted over 50 years. Her musical skills and her creative ability to write Easter and Christmas programs blessed many people through the years.

Her desire to be a part of God’s work grew as her faith grew and she led women’s Bible studies and volunteered as a youth leader. Her interest in global missions led her to travel to South Korea, Hungary, Russia, Israel, France, Montenegro, and many other places. She had a special love for missionaries and hosted many of them in her home.

Marilynn’s children and grandchildren were the joy of her life. She loved spending time with them, and every grandchild looked forward to the souvenirs she would bring them from her travels. One time, when all her grandchildren were together, she TP’ed their bedrooms. The next morning, they couldn’t figure out who did it — they never thought to suspect their grandmother!

The single most important factor in Marilynn’s life was her love for Jesus, and His gift of salvation. Jesus gave her life purpose, and she confidently walked where He led her. Marilynn’s life, like her parents, cast a large comfortable shadow for those privileged to walk near her. She gave her children a great foundation and as adults they experienced her steadfast love in her desire to help them in any way possible.

She was loved much and will be greatly missed, by her children, Kenneth, Janice, and James; her five grandchildren, Joshua, Audrey, Tom, Elizabeth and Carolyn; her eight great-grandchildren, Davian, Ariana, Sammy, JT, Shyler, Rory, Owen, and Zoey; her sister, Arline Berry Julia; and many loving nieces and nephews.

She was predeceased by her parents, O.K. and Ruby Berry, her sister Pauline, and Tom Sewall.¹