Marilyn Elizabeth Thomas Gomez, a fourth generation Arizonan, was surrounded in love by her children when she departed her beloved city of Flagstaff to join her Angel in Heaven on September 20, 2021.

Born in 1939 to Mary Agnes (Mullen) and John Thomas, and married to Angel Gomez in 1961, she was a devoted daughter, wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, and friend – she touched so many lives throughout her years.

She spent all of her 81 years in this mountain town, giving so much of herself to so many. Marilyn truly loved Flagstaff and was proud to share her heritage of a family that was born and raised here, often talking about how her father put down the first concrete sidewalks and most especially her pride in her own mother being the Chief Nurse at a fledgling Flagstaff Community Hospital. Marilyn fought a number of medical conditions in her final years, but that did not stop her from reaching out and spreading her friendship and love to her new neighbors at The Peaks, always striving to make the community stronger. She only resided at The Peaks for a couple of months, but found a way to live a bit happier and give a little more to those around her until she was admitted to FMC,  where she passed away.

Marilyn touched the lives of many Flagstaff citizens through her years. She volunteered at Nativity (St. Mary's) School and Parish, mentored young girls as a Girl Scout Leader (which included leading a busload of teenage girls and family members cross-country during our Bicentennial year), and helped local Boy Scout Troops as a merit badge counselor for First Aid and Emergency Preparedness. She was strong in her Catholic faith, active in the Rosary Altar Society and the Cursillo Movement, was receptionist for Nativity BVM Parish, and served as lay minister throughout the years. She was dedicated to the medical community, serving as a nurse's aide at the hospital in her youth, and working as receptionist for numerous doctors throughout her adult years. Even in later years she continued to care for her mother-in-law and her many friends as they aged and passed on.

She enjoyed the wonderful outdoors of Flagstaff, always looking forward to campouts, collecting firewood on crisp autumn days, complete with a picnic lunch, and cutting Christmas trees with extended family from Phoenix. Family and friends meant everything to Marilyn, and she loved the annual family gatherings where she could reconnect with many cousins, nieces, nephews and in-laws where she would freely give hugs and spin tales of years past. She was so happy to have attended the latest family reunion this July.

Marilyn was preceded in death by her husband Angel, both her parents, brother William Thomas, and sister Sharon Rayner. She is survived by her sisters BJ Scott and Margie Hull (Chris), her daughter Mary Margaret Johnson (Vince), son Richard Gomez (Pamela), grandchildren Angela (Sidney), Vincent, Alexis, Thaddeus, and Christian, and great-grandson Jayden.

Services will be held on Oct 22nd at San Francisco de Asis Catholic Church, with a Rosary at 10:00am and the funeral Mass at 10:30am. Interment will follow at Calvary Cemetery, and then a reception in the Bonaventure Hall at San Francisco de Asis School.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Arizona Historical Society Pioneer Museum or the Arizona Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired.