Born on May 12, 1932, she was a native of Lake Placid, a place of great natural beauty and Olympic history.

Marilyn’s preferred sport was ice skating, which she pursued with passion and dedication, winning the Ice Skating Award at the Lake Placid Winter Carnival in 1950 as a high school senior. While in high school, Marilyn worked for the Frances Brewster Corporation, an esteemed company for both women’s and men’s clothing and developed a love of fashion merchandising. Upon graduation from Lake Placid High School in 1950, she enrolled at Cazenovia College, where she studied fashion merchandising, graduating in 1952.

Marilyn was also an avid tennis player, and it was at the tennis courts at Mirror Lake Beach that she met the love of her life, Walter H. Governale. They were married in 1954 at St. Agnes Catholic Church in Lake Placid. They relocated to Pompano Beach, Florida, where Marilyn was given the management of Frances Brewster’s Fort Lauderdale location, and they were able to return to Lake Placid each summer where Marilyn managed that location as well.

Marilyn and Walter raised three children, all of whom have great memories of their parents and the summers spent in Lake Placid. Marilyn achieved and maintained her management position with Frances Brewster for 50 years working in the Fort Lauderdale and Lake Placid stores and was a leader in the fashion world in those places.

She was a kind and elegant role model to all and a devoted mother who supported the dreams of her family who surrounded her at the time of her passing. Marilyn was dearly loved and will be deeply missed by her family.

She is survived by her son, Gregg Owens Governale; daughters Lauren Marilyn Governale Hodges (Robert Hodges) and Gretchen Governale Noce (Tony Noce); three grandchildren, Mary Lynn Hodges Banfield (Joseph Banfield), Virginia Hodges, and Tanner Viteri; and one great-granddaughter, Emily May Banfield.

She was predeceased by her husband Walter and by her parents, Laura and Clarence Bisson, who were long-time residents of Lake Placid.