Marilyn Boals

Marilyn P. Boal, age 90 of Portage, died on September 14, 2025. She was born on September 29, 1934, in Pittsburgh, PA, the daughter of James A. and Mary E. (Waugaman) Pringle. Marilyn was a 1952 graduate of Wilkinsburg High School and received her bachelor's degree in music, as an organ major, from Westminster College in 1956. Marilyn was a church organist for several years, and on June 17, 1967, she married James R. Boal. The couple moved to Portage, Michigan, and raised their two sons. She created the Early Childhood Music Program and introduced thousands of area children to basics of music over her 40 years of teaching. Marilyn was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Kalamazoo. She enjoyed attending events at the Portage Senior Center and especially liked the computer classes. Her family includes her sons: James S. Boal and Stephen J. Boal; her grandchildren: Nate, Grace, Isaac, and Josephine Boal; her siblings: Joanne Sickeler and Peggy Kerr; and several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents; and her husband James R. Boal. Friends are invited to visit with her family on Saturday, September 20, 2025, at First Presbyterian Church of Kalamazoo, 321 W. South Street, Kalamazoo, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., where her funeral service will be held at 1 p.m. Interment will follow at Riverside Cemetery, Kalamazoo. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to Angela Hospice, c/o Development Department, 14100 Newburgh Rd., Livonia, MI 48150, or to the Friends of the Portage District Library, 300 Library Lane, Portage, Michigan 49002. To view Marilyn's Personalized guestbook, please visit,

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