Marilyn Kahn

Service : Tuesday, July 8th at 10:00 am
Service Location: Graveside Service
Shalom Memorial Park
1700 W. Rand Road
Arlington Heights, IL 60004

Interment:
Shalom Memorial Park
1700 W. Rand Road
Arlington Heights

Visitation

The Mather – Evanston
425 Davis Street
Evanston, Illinois 60201

Following interment until 3:30 PM

Marilyn Kahn, 95, died peacefully late Saturday night, July 5, after a brief illness. Born and raised in Cleveland, the only and adored child of the late Sally and Art Kalish, a graduate of the University of Wisconsin at Madison and a Chicago-area resident since 1961, Marilyn faced life with focus, creativity, warmth, laughter, love and unmatched resilience. Marilyn was never idle, and she was always organized. She approached challenges in life as projects to be tackled with industry and enthusiasm. Whether building a home as a young woman with her college love and first husband, the late Jack Teplinsky, and their three children, or facing his death at age 36 to pancreatic cancer, she never stopped functioning as a mother and friend, caring for her children, shopping and cooking and carpooling all over Highland Park. Intent on continuing her life’s adventure despite that great loss, she plunged into navigating the challenges of adult dating, meeting many eligible candidates(thanks to a network of wonderful friends who fixed her up) and ultimately falling in love with and marrying the late Ben Kahn in 1968. Together, working without a net of any professional guidance or social media examples, Marilyn and Ben blended a family of three pre-teens and a kindergartener who really didn’t know what had hit them. In comparison, designing and building from scratch what turned into a flagship child development program at Glenview Naval Air Base and becoming a sought-after consultant to child development centers at naval bases throughout the US must have seemed a walk in the park. Marilyn was always busy, even when at home. Running to Sunset, planning and cooking multi-course meals (always including dessert) every night, reading, playing bridge, doing needlepoint or, later, knitting, knitting, knitting the countless sweaters, afghans, scarves that she became known for… she was never without a project. Even in her last days, she was constantly working on a scarf for one of her kids or grandchildren. Marilyn is survived by her 4 children, all of whom were with her for the last week of her life and each of whom she completely adored: Lynn Kahn, Cheryl (Jim) Rosenthal, Steve (Melanie) Teplinsky and Susan Herlihy. She is survived as well by her beloved and loving grandchildren: Jonah, Jeff, Isaac, Nick, Jack, Joey, Yaela and Sarah. The family would also like to thank the wonderful staff at the Mather Evanston, where she lived since 2015. Whether in Independent Living or, in the past few months, in the Life Center there, she was surrounded by patient, caring, warm and attentive staff who enriched her life and supported her in countless ways both large and small. We are truly grateful. Mom, we will forever miss your smile. We love you soooo much. Graveside service Tuesday, July 8, 10 AM at Shalom Memorial Park, 1700 W. Rand Rd. (enter off of Wilke), Arlington Heights. For a link to view the service, shiva, and to leave condolences: www.shalommemorial.org, 847-255-3520.