Longtime South Whidbey resident, Marleys Burley, has gone home to join her husband, Robert. Born to Gearhardt and Ruth Kloster in Minot, N.D., on May 31, 1924, she arrived on South Whidbey in 1936. Marleys graduated from Langley High School as the salutatorian of her graduating class and went on to marry her childhood sweetheart, Robert Burley.

Marleys was a bundle of energy and life whose original wit and sparkle colored the many ways she contributed to the community. She demonstrated her commitment to helping others by volunteering at Whidbey General Hospital, South Whidbey Senior Center, at Woodland Hall Sunday School and St. Peter’s Lutheran Church. She was also well known as the neighborhood beautician at one point in her life.

Her work experience was as varied as her volunteering. She graced the retail arena at Midvale Grocery and Appliance Store and also at Maxwelton Grocery. She was a welcoming face at the Langley Clinic for many years and shared her personal sense of style with customers at the Just Because clothing store.

Never a dull moment, Marleys could be seen swinging an iron on a golf course, plugging the slot machines at assorted casinos and entertaining more than one grandchild, over the years, with her own rendition of “The Good Ship Lollipop,” complete with tap shoes.

She is survived by her four children; Robin Burley of Bellevue, Joan Blasko and her husband, Bob of Clinton, Lynn Scriven and her husband, Don, of Bothell, Mark Burley and his wife, Merrie, of Coupeville, eight grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.

Services will be held Thursday, April 14, at 1 p.m., at Trinity Lutheran Church, Freeland. Memorials may be made to Home Health Care of Whidbey General Hospital.

Arrangements were entrusted to the Burley Funeral Chapel.

We will miss you Mom, Gramma, Gigi.