Marilyn Louise Giles

Marilyn died on Thursday, January 8, 2026 in Wells, Minnesota. Visitation for Marilyn L. Giles, age 83 of Wells, Minnesota, will be from 10:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. Saturday, January 17, 2026, at Bayview/Freeborn Funeral Home with a short service at 11:00 a.m. Pastor Don Malinsky will be officiating.

Marilyn Louise (Schumacher) Giles was born January 8, 1943, to Albert and Laura (Barber) Schumacher in Austin, Minnesota. The family had lived in the Albert Lea, Minnesota area where Marilyn attended school in Albert Lea, Minnesota and graduated high school in 1956. She met and later married Donald R. Giles on October 19, 1963. They had four children, Donna, (twins) Michael and Martha, and Frank.

After their marriage, Donald and Marilyn would move to the Saint Paul, Minnesota area where she would take work at a cafe in Newport, Minnesota as a server, this was the start of a lifelong career in the food service industry. In 1966, Donald and Marilyn moved to New Jersey where they would welcome three of their four children, Donna and the twins Michael and Martha. In 1971, they family moved back to the Minneapolis, Minnesota, area, where their fourth child was welcomed into the family, Frank. In 1973, Donald, Marilyn and the kids would move to Columbus, Ohio where Donald took a job with the USDA. In 1977, the family would move to Pataskala, Ohio. It was during this time that Marilyn would foster a lifelong passion for Tole Painting, and arts and crafts. She enjoyed teaching painting classes and other crafts to whomever wanted to learn. She won several awards and ribbons from various City, County and State Fairs for her paintings and baked goods. In 1983, the family moved to Dexter, Iowa. In 1990, with the kids mostly out of the house, Donald and Marilyn then moved to Ankeny, Iowa until 1992, when they moved back to the Albert Lea area, closer to family and friends and an area that the entire family calls home.

Marilyn was preceded in death by her father, Albert Schumacher; her mother, Laura Raymond; her father-in-law, Lloyd Giles; her mother-in-law, Nellie Giles; her son, Frank Giles; brother-in-law, Virgil Giles; sister-in-law Delores (Les) VanRyswyk; many aunts and uncles, nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Marilyn always had a smile and a laugh for everyone she met along the way, she will be forever in our hearts.

The service will be live-streamed, and can be viewed below, or from the Bayview/Freeborn Funeral Home YouTube page at the following link: https://youtube.com/live/6hhR8VjyFlU?feature=share