Marian Bayles

May 27, 1924 ~ December 1, 2015
Marian Bayles was born May 27, 1924, to Hanson Durham and Caroline Lyman Bayles in Blanding, Utah in the house on Main Street that she lived in most of her life. She was the sixth child and fourth daughter in a family of eight children.
She was affectionately nicknamed Maidie after Maid Marian from Robin Hood by her Aunt Lucretia, a name she was known by to family and friends the rest of her life.
Marian graduated from San Juan High in 1942, after graduating from high school she attended LDS Business College in Salt Lake City, UT.
Sometime in 1946 Marian went to stay at the family ranch in Mancos, Colorado. While staying there, her brother Platte asked her if she would accompany his wife Marilyn on a trip to California to visit Marilyn’s family.
At this time Weston Bayles was running for State Representative and learned that there was no one on the Republican ballot for San Juan County Treasurer.
Weston and his brother Wesley put Marian’s name on the ballot without her knowledge. She won! When Platt went out to California to pick up Marian and Marilyn, he informed Marian that she was the new County Treasurer.
Marian served as Treasurer for the span of 38 years, during which time she took a four year sabbatical to work at the uranium mill in Monticello as Bob Fellmeth’s secretary.
For the first few years serving as Treasurer, she hitched rides with the mail truck back and forth between Monticello and Blanding for 50 cents a day round trip.
After working in the mill Marian was again elected Treasurer in 1948. At that time San Juan County had an assessed value of approximately $2 million. Through the uranium and oil booms, the assessed value grew to nearly $1 billion.
In 1954 Marian, along with her sister Margaret and mother Caroline built and ran the Dairy Queen in Blanding for close to 20 years. Many residents of Blanding still have fond memories of their visits to the Dairy Queen.
Some of Marian’s favorite things were jeeping, cookouts on Blue Mountain and Devil’s Canyon with her brother Hanson’s Dutch oven cooking and watching Lawrence Welk.
She was an avid Utah Jazz fan and never missed a game, keeping her own stat sheet as she watched the games on TV or listened on the radio.
She loved to travel and visited many different places, including Hawaii, Florida, Canada, Virginia, Colorado, Arizona, Mexico and Washington DC.
Other hobbies included: needlepoint, sewing, crocheting and more. She was a perfectionist and created many beautiful quilts, afghans, clothes, and pillowcases.
Marian had a love for taking photos. You would always find her with a camera, or two, in hand at every event she attended, from picnics and parades to birthdays and weddings.
She kept all her photos organized in albums and loved to share them with others. Marian inherited her mother’s love of flowers and rock hunting, and enjoyed working in the yard.
On December 1, 2015 Marian passed away surrounded by family and friends.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Hanson D. and Caroline Lyman Bayles, siblings Reed, Carol, Francis, Margaret, Mildred and Hanson.
She is survived by her brother Platte, many nieces and nephews and great nieces and nephews.
A family visitation was held at the San Juan Mortuary on December 5, 2015 followed by a funeral and graveside services later that day.
Card of thanks
The family wishes to thank Bishop Lyle Nielson, the Blanding Sixth Ward and Blanding Second Ward Relief Societies, Danny Palmer for their compassionate service. They also wish to thank the many others who visited Aunt Maidie and helped look after her.

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