Marilyn Bradt Obituary

Marilyn Tracy Bradt

Marilyn Bradt, 98, passed away peacefully on April 7, 2026. She was born Marilyn Elizabeth Tracy to Robert H. and Ethel M. Tracy (Morris) in Denver Colorado January 18th, 1928. Marilyn grew up in Central Denver and went on to attend Greeley Teachers College in Colorado, where she earned a Fine Arts and Teaching Degree and a lifetime teaching certificate. While in Greeley, she met Russell Bradt, a graduate student in History. Russ and Marilyn would go on to marry in Greeley in 1949. Following graduations and marriage, they moved to Lawrence, Kansas, where Russ completed a Master's degree in Mathematics and where their first child, Kathleen (Kay) was born. In 1951, they moved to Palo Alto, CA for Russ to complete a Doctorate in Mathematics and then returned to Lawrence, where Russ accepted a position in the Math Department at the University of Kansas. Settling into life in Lawrence, Marilyn never ceased to be active, whether organizing and supporting her family, which would eventually grow to 4 children, or participating in one of the many community organizations she worked tirelessly for. In 1955 she and Russ joined Plymouth Congregational Church where they both served on multiple committees and boards, and sang in the Choir – Marilyn singing well into her 90s. She loved the music, whether as a participant or as a listener, especially when her children or grandchildren were involved. In 1956 they built a house on Naismith Drive, which would be her home until her move to Presbyterian Manor in 2023, excepting a sabbatical to Glasgow, Scotland in 1962/3 where she cultivated a love for the history and rugged countryside there.

Marilyn made her mark in the community she loved. She was active in the League of Women Voters, serving many roles, including as both Local and State League Presidents. Perhaps one of her defining roles was that of the head of the League's lobbying corps at the Kansas Statehouse, where she exercised an abiding passion for social justice. Following Russ's death in 1980, she transitioned to being a professional lobbyist for Kansans for the Improvement of Nursing Homes, working as an advocate for the fair and humane treatment of those housed in public and private nursing homes throughout Kansas. On and off (mostly on) she was a volunteer reader for the Audio Reader Network for around 50 years, reading everything from newspapers to novels, and where she was when found incapacitated by a stroke – volunteering to the end!

A young Marilyn's horizons were expanded when her father began constructing a log cabin southwest of Denver in 1934. The cabin introduced her to a new set of adventures and an appreciation for a simple life, close to nature, that would stay with her throughout her long life. In 1968, she and Russ took over care of the cabin from her parents and over the next few years the family came to spend every summer there. She would become an avid birder, hiker, watercolor painter, wood splitter, water hauler and teacher to her children and grandchildren. They embraced many of the same passions, with her careful guidance, which somehow wove a respect for cabin rules together with a strong sense of independence and curiosity. Marilyn would spend her summers at the cabin well into her 90s, still splitting wood for the cookstove and hauling buckets of water from the creek for cooking and bathing, even when she was down to hauling only one bucket at a time. In 2019, after suffering a broken wrist, one of her first questions of the Doctor was whether she would be able to split wood that summer! On many summer evenings she would lead the family in song, playing the pump organ while those who sang joined along and those who didn't enjoyed the music of familiar songs and hymns in front of a cheerful fire. The importance of the cabin to Marilyn's life can never be overstated.

Marilyn was preceded in death by her husband Russ, daughter Kay, and siblings Wilma Gann and Bob Tracy. She is survived by children Ralph, Chris (Dee) and Steve (Jane Patrick), and grandchildren Tory Macfarlane (Chris Fickett), Duncan Macfarlane, Ian (Josh Hollingsworth), Roscoe (Madeleine Anderson), and Colin Bradt.

Services will be held at 11 AM Monday April 13th, at Plymouth Congregational Church, 925 Vermont St., Lawrence.

In lieu of flowers or cards, the family asks for donations in Marilyn's name to Audio Reader, Plymouth Church, or the League of Women Voters.

For more information or to post a condolence go to warrenmcelwain.com.