Marilyn Earl Thrall, former Columbia Pike librarian and Arlington resident, died on December 22, at age 79.

The following obituary was published Friday, Jan. 8, in the Washington Post.

Marilyn Earle Thrall, 79, a librarian and homemaker, died of cancer Dec. 22 at Powhatan Nursing Home in Falls Church. She had lived in Arlington County since 1956. Mrs. Thrall worked for the Arlington Library system at its Columbia Pike branch, starting in 1972, and later worked at Marymount University until she retired in 1995.

Marilyn Earle was born in Indianapolis, the daughter of a Methodist minister, and grew up in small towns in north central Indiana. She graduated from DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind., and moved to Washington in 1952. She joined the staff of the Folger Shakespeare Library, working for three years as a cataloguer of rare books and manuscripts. She married and became a full-time homemaker until returning to the workplace in 1972.

She was on the vestry of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Arlington in the 1960s and was a member of the Neighbors Club in Arlington. She made more than a dozen trips to England, paying special attention to historic churches and cathedrals. Survivors include her husband of 56 years, Russell Thrall of Arlington; a daughter, Janice Jannuzzi of Richmond; twin sons, Gordon Thrall of Annandale and David Thrall of Redondo Beach, Calif.; and six grandchildren.

— Patricia Sullivan

We extend our deepest condolences to Marilyn Thrall’s family and loved ones.