Marlee Parmiter 1925-2021

Marjorie Lee (Marlee) Skeen Parmiter, 96, died Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2021.

She was born on Valentine’s Day in 1925 to Charles and Emma Singer Skeen. She graduated from Eskridge High School and The University of Kansas. Growing up, she relished childhood memories of family visits to Watt’s Mill.

Music was the great gift of her life, and she was encouraged and supported by her parents, who paid for her first piano with a pig. Following her dream, she arrived at KU on a bus, carrying only a cardboard suitcase. Marlee was one of the first women in a World War II-era marching band and worked for legendary basketball coach Phog Allen.

She was an extraordinary teacher who shared her joy and enthusiasm for music in a career that included teaching in Lawrence, Perry, Alma, Mayetta, Whiting, Onaga, Denison, Holton, Bonner Springs and DeSoto.

She directed church choirs and played in civic bands, hospitals and nursing homes.

She enjoyed cheeseburgers, cribbage, the Jayhawks, jokes and travel. She adorned her homes with Jayhawks, sunflowers and scenes of Kansas wheat fields and the Flint Hills.

She was predeceased by her parents; siblings Ralph, Kenneth, Bernice, Gertrude and Olive; and a daughter, Marlee Horrocks.

She is survived by a son, Jim; son-in-law, David Horrocks; two granddaughters, Caitlin (Todd Kaneko) and Mary (James Kern); great-grandsons Leo, Calvin, Dash and Wiley; and a multitude of former students who became lifelong friends.

No services are planned. Highland Park Funeral Home of Kansas City is in charge of arrangements.

(PAID OBITUARY)

The Holton Recorder

109 W. Fourth St.
Holton, KS 66436
Phone: 785-364-3141
 

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