(January 5, 2011) Marlyss Rae (Blinn) Eggemeyer, 75, passed away in her home, surrounded by her family Jan. 5, 2011. Her final months were made comfortable by the attentive care and love of her children, their families and her sister Beoma.

Marlyss was educated on Kodiak and at Forest Ridge Convent in Seattle. She and James Earl Eggemeyer, who she met on Kodiak while he served in the U.S. Marine Corps, were married in August 1954 in Kodiak’s St. Mary’s Church. She and Jim continued the long family tradition of fishing. In 1963, they purchased a furniture business from J. W. Rhodes and after losing it to the 1964 earthquake, re-built and expanded it over the years to include clothing and shoes. Marlyss would run Eggemeyer’s Casuals for years to come. The furniture portion of the business remains today under the ownership of their son James.

Marlyss was a devoted mother who loved Kodiak and the warm, Alaska summers when her garden flowers thrived. She also enjoyed many years of camping with family and friends at Roslyn Beach.

Her mother Freda (Kraft) Blinn, father Jess M. Blinn, husband James E. Eggemeyer and eldest son Jess Eggemeyer preceded her in death.

Marlyss is survived by her daughter Tenley Rae Kerlee (Tim) of Mount Vernon, Wash.; sons James (Debbie), Thomas, Steven (Alisa) of Kodiak; grandchildren Scott, Michael and Jimmy Eggemeyer, Daniel and Christina Brown, Ashley, Steven, Jess II and Lorraine Eggemeyer; great-grandson Jess III; and her sister Beoma Oakley (Al) of Birch Bay, Wash.