Marilyn Bourque

Marilyn Bourque took her final bow on March 18, 2026, at her home in Lakewood, Colorado. The daughter of Earnest Lee Rogers and Margaret Kemp Rogers, Marilyn Frazier Rogers was born and raised in Troy, Ohio. She graduated from Troy High School, class of 1948, and went on to study music at Miami University, where she met her husband of 68 years, James D. (Jim) Bourque. She and Jim married in 1951. After starting their family in Kentucky, Marilyn, Jim, and their three children moved back to Troy in 1962.

There she continued her lifelong love of music by performing in plays and musicals with the newly established Troy Civic Theatre, including lead roles in “The King and I” and “My Fair Lady”. Marilyn’s musical and acting chops found their way into reading bedtime stories to both her children and grandchildren, with Marilyn performing all the voices in character, and hosting Christmas Eve sing-alongs at the piano.

Her outgoing personality, quick-witted humor, and constant smile won her friends easily wherever she went. Her warmth and sweetness were as abundant as the candies and chocolates stashed throughout the house to satisfy her sweet tooth.

With a curious intellect, love of history, and sense of adventure, Marilyn was constantly trying and learning new things throughout her life. After their children went to college, Marilyn and Jim moved briefly to Oakwood, Ohio, until 1978, when Jim took a new job in Lima, Ohio. Following a new passion, Marilyn returned to school at Lima Technical College and received her Associate’s degree in Engineering Technology in 1981. Upon graduation, she worked as an engineering technician at the Chrysler M1 Abrams tank plant.

With Jim’s early retirement in 1984, they bought a sailboat, beginning together the epic journey through the Great Lakes, Erie Canal, Hudson River, and the Intracoastal all the way to Miami, where, after five months at sea, they took up residence in sunny Coral Gables, FL, until moving to the Denver area in 2013 to be closer to family.

She is loved and survived by her children, Barbara Bourque of Lakewood, CO, J.C. Bourque (Lisa Heppner) of Wheat Ridge, CO, and Thomas Bourque (Debbie) of Ann Arbor, MI. She was preceded in death by her husband, James D. Bourque. She is also survived by six grandchildren, Daniel Lehmann (Celena Toon), Malden, MA, Lizzie Raider (Matt), E. Falmouth, MA, John Lehmann (Bridget), Bath, UK, Katie Wokasch (Travis), and Becky Lehmann (Steven Wexler), Lakewood, CO, James Bourque (Grace), Lafayette CA, and 4 great-grandchildren.