Marilynn Kay Shadbolt

Marilynn Kay Lani Gilbertson Shadbolt (85) passed away Saturday morning, 31 January 2026, at the Stonehenge Rehabilitation Center in Washington Terrace, Utah, after courageously battling several, recent life-threatening challenges.

Her daughter Pam had only an hour before visited her and reported to the family — “Mom is doing pretty well this morning. … She is happy and waiting for her sweetheart to come.” That reunion will now be delayed for a short time, but what a sweet reunion it will be!

Marilynn was born in Ely, Nevada on 14 February 1940 to Opal L. Hatton and LeRoy F. Lani. She was taught to love God and had a deep and abiding faith in her Savior Jesus Christ, which helped her endure this life’s challenges and find joy in each new day. She instilled the same in her children as she taught them to pray and to love their fellow beings and to face life with faith every day. She cherished her membership in the St. Paul Lutheran Church in Ogden.

She spent her early years in Nevada where she gained a love for family, the ranch, the desert, horses, and Native American antiquities. She moved to Ogden with her family where she grew into her teens and had a special relationship with her maternal grandparents Elmer C. and Hazel Wright Hatton. She attended Ogden City schools. In Ogden, she met Dean Gerald Gilbertson at Coop Market where he was employed. They married on 12 October 1956 and raised three children. They built their life around their mutual love of reading, traveling, the outdoors, and camping with their family. Marilynn became an expert hunter using various weapons — rifles, muskets, and even the bow. They also bowled, were members of the Elk Fraternity, and enjoyed music, dancing, and a variety of social activities. Devastatingly, Dean passed away suddenly of a heart attack on 8 October 1981 after 25 years of marriage.

Miraculously, she was set up on a blind date with Robert (“Shad”) Royce Shadbolt in early 1982, who immediately began to breathe new life into her grieving soul. They quickly fell in love and were married in Reno, Nevada on 23 April 1982 and resided in Roy, Utah until her passing.

Marilynn worked for various companies, including Holiday Inn, Cutter Laboratories, and Iomega Corporation, and was loved and respected by her coworkers who looked to her as a role-model and leader. She earned her belated high school diploma in 1989 with a deep sense of accomplishment, teaching by example her love of learning. After her and Robert’s retirement, they traveled and explored much of the Western United States and Canada via motorcycle and automobile. They also traveled to and from Robert’s hometown of Pender, Nebraska where they spent many enjoyable hours visiting with her Sweetheart’s family, whom Marilynn quickly loved as her very own.

Together, Marilynn and Robert united their now-combined seven, late-teen and early-twenties children into a loving and supportive family. They spent countless hours attending and hosting family events, including yearly Christmas parties that over the years outgrew the home. Their focus was always on each other and their growing posterity. Marilynn affectionately referred to Robert as “my Sweetheart” and “my Honey.”

Preceded in death by her parents, her first husband, her only brother Dennis Dixon, and one grandson Dalton Slone. She is survived by her husband Robert of Roy; four daughters — Brenda (Jim) Berlin of Layton, Pamela (Mace) Molen of Taylor, Cindy Jensen of Grantsville, Linda (Ken) Slone of West Haven; three sons — Steven (Keri) Gilbertson of Layton, Roy Shadbolt of West Haven; and Rob (Jodie) Shadbolt of Syracuse; 22 grandchildren; and 43 great grandchildren.

We wish to thank the medical personnel and staff who have cared for Marilynn in various capacities over the last several years and in recent months, particularly her primary care physician Dr. Critt Aardema and the dedicated staff at Stonehenge.

We as family are confident today that “Mom is doing pretty well this morning. … She is happy and waiting for her sweetheart to come.”

Mortuary services are being rendered by the SereniCare Funeral Home. No formal funeral services will be held.