From the Office of Bishop Grant J. Hagiya
In sadness, we share the news that Rev. Marilyn Ware, a retired deacon in the Desert Southwest Conference, died on Sunday, August 21, 2022.
Rev. Marilyn Ware was born, raised, educated, and married as a small-town Midwesterner (all in Iowa, Kansas, Illinois, Ohio, and back to Illinois). She raised her family in Denver and returned to work as an office manager. She graduated from the University of Iowa and eventually earned her MS in Divinity from Iliff School of Theology while participating at St. Andrew’s United Methodist Church in Denver, CO. She was consecrated as a diaconal minister in 1988 in the Rocky Mountain Annual Conference.
In the mid-1990s, she moved to Arizona where she enjoyed tennis, golf, skiing, her PEO professional women’s organization, and church. Rev. Ware served at Paradise Valley UMC (Associate, 1996) and admitted in full connection in 1997. She helped to establish Desert Mission UMC and loved leading classes, serving in worship, and caring for others. She retired in 2002 and continued to serve at Paradise Valley UMC until the following year. Diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 2006, she then used this opportunity to volunteer and support others with the disease until her death on August 21, 2022.
A Celebration of Life will be held on Monday, November 21st at 10:30 AM at:
Desert Mission United Methodist Church
7373 East Dixileta Drive
Scottsdale, Arizona 85266
The service will be available on Zoom by clicking this link.
Condolences may be sent to:
PK Ware
c/o Desert Mission United Methodist Church
7373 E Dixileta Drive
Scottsdale, AZ 85266
Donations honoring her life and memory, may be given to (in no specific order):
- Parkinson’s Network of Arizona, https://parkinsonnetworkaz.org/
- Michael J Fox Foundation, https://www.michaeljfox.org/
- Desert Mission UMC, https://www.desertmissionumc.org/
- PEO, https://www.peointernational.org/
We join our hearts together in grief, acknowledging our human loss. May God grant us grace, that in pain we may find comfort; in sorrow, hope; and in death, resurrection. With gratitude for the life and ministry of Rev. Marilyn Ware, please hold her family and friends in prayer at this time.