Marilyn French

Marilyn Grace French, a 70-year-old resident of Princeton, died on Sunday, March 6, 2005 at Wright Memorial Hospital in Trenton after a long battle with emphysema.

Marilyn Grace French, a 70-year-old resident of Princeton, died on Sunday, March 6, 2005 at Wright Memorial Hospital in Trenton after a long battle with emphysema.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. on Thursday, March 10, 2005 at the Greenlee-Middleton Funeral Chapel in Princeton. Rev. Ron Helton will officiate. Burial will be in the Princeton Cemetery.

An open visitation begins at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, March 9, 2005 at the funeral home, where a family visitation will be held from 6 to 8 o?clock that evening.

Mrs. French was born on Jan. 8, 1935 in Neligh, NE, the daughter of Otto and Vera Willa ?Murl? Johnson Payne. She was raised in Mercer County and attended schools in Ravanna and Princeton. She graduated in 1953 from Princeton High School. She was married in 1979 at Ft. Worth, TX to Johnny Wilburn French, who survives of the home. They couple moved from Ft. Worth to Princeton in 1981.

She was a member of the Princeton First Baptist Church and attended the Mercer Baptist Church.

In addition to her husband, she is survived by one daughter, Marsha Barkley of Yorktown, IN; three sons, James M. Barkley and his wife, Deborah, of Independence, Gary Barkley and his wife, Diana, of Excelsior Springs, and Dennis Barkley and his wife Teresa, of Roeland Park, KS: two brothers, Dale Payne and his wife, June, of Coeur D?Alene, ID, and Robert Payne and his wife, Darlene, of Lebanon, MO; three step-sons; three step-daughters; 11 grandchildren; one great-grandchild; 13 step-grandchildren; and five step-great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents; two half-brothers, Frankie Johnson and Ted Meadows; and her step-father, Arlo Johnson.

The family has suggested contributions to the Mercer Baptist Church. They may be left at or mailed to the Greenlee-Middleton Funeral Chapel, PO Box 316, Princeton, MO 64673.