Marilyn was born on April 20, 1935, in Albany, Oregon to her parents, Bob and Valera Baker. She went to Grammar School at Clover Ridge. After eighth grade graduation she attended Central School for Jr. High where her father taught math, then went to Albany High School graduating in 1952.

She attended Albany Mennonite Church where she was baptized and developed her faith and community belonging.

The next year she went to Goshen College, taking the train all the way from Oregon to Indiana by herself. She majored in Elementary education. She stayed out for one year to teach grades 1-4 at Harris School in Halsey, OR to pay for her senior year at Goshen. She then returned to Goshen College graduating in 1958. She married LeRoy Leppke in 1969 in Dinuba, California.

She taught first and second grade at Willow Glen School in San Jose, CA 30 years. She retired in 1988 from teaching and moved to Roseburg, Oregon with her first husband, LeRoy Leppke. After his death in 1999, she lived alone for one and a half years before she met a former classmate from Goshen College, Louie Lehman. They married in 2001 and lived in Roseburg for six years. They then moved to Albany due to her mother’s health. After her mother’s death they bought a house near the Mennonite Village and lived there for 21 years until they moved to “Quail Run”, the Assisted Living Facility at the Mennonite Village.

Marilyn passed away on March 12, 2026 at Bonaventure of Albany where she had lived for one and a half years. She was preceded in death by her parents, and both of her husbands, LeRoy Leppke and Louie Lehman, who both took great care of her. She is survived by her sisters Sharon (Ed) Swartzendruber of Goshen, IN and Roberta (Don) Christner of Roseburg, OR, and brother Mike Baker of Waldport, OR.

A viewing will be held on Wednesday, March 25, 2026 from 3pm to 5pm at Fisher Funeral Home in Albany, OR followed by a graveside service at Roseburg Memorial Gardens, Roseburg, OR in charge of Pastor Mike Fast.