On July 27, 2023, Marilyn left this world for her next great adventure.

The third of six children, Marilyn was born to Laura (Moran) and Earl Goff, Jr. on May 18, 1954, at Burtonwood AFB, England. She lived in England and then Japan and then San Bernardino, CA, before her family eventually settled in Puyallup, WA. She attended Puyallup schools from 5th-12th grades, making many friends along the way. She loved being an Air Force kid because with each move she got to make new friends. In life, that became her specialty: making friends with everyone she'd meet. She loved the quote, "There are no strangers, only friends I haven't met yet." She grew up on a street with 50 kids, and maintained close, lifelong friendships with many of them. She was in the 2nd graduating class of Rogers High School (1972).

After high school Marilyn became a dental assistant and married her high school love, Thom Hamel. They raised five children, and various others. Her highest honor in life was motherhood. She loved being the central figure in her children's lives. An excellent cook, her kids would often wake up to her baking cookies in the morning. There weren't many problems that she felt couldn't be fixed with a cookie and a hug. She loved her children with everything she had - forever, for always, and no matter what.

A devout Christian, she attended Summit United Methodist Church, and then Bethany Open Bible, making more lifelong friends. She was a helper, telling her children, "Many hands make the work light." She was also a comforter to the hurting and she loved to say, "There's always enough," encouraging her children and grandchildren to always share.

Her greatest joy in life was being a grandma to her 18 grandkids. They were her reward for a job well done. She was highly involved in all of their lives, cheering for them at sporting events, and holding them during heartbreaks. She drove them all over, then taught them how to drive. She taught them how to cook and she laughed with them in pure joy. Every year her children and grandchildren had an annual camping trip, and those were her favorite! Every year Grandma was in charge of snacks, and she always brought Tootsie Pops and Red Vines for the kids, along with whatever else sounded good. And she loved to give money to the grandkids. A little for the camp store, a little for the Dollar Tree, and then a little for gas, when they got older. She was a wonderful mother, but being a grandma was where she shined her brightest!

A woman once told her she was a bouquet of flowers in the garden of life, and oh was that right! She laughed and loved easily, and was both fun and funny: sunshine on a cloudy day.

Marilyn's final act before passing was to laugh, which is likely what stopped her heart. She left this world exactly how she lived in it: laughing.

Marilyn is survived by her children Lisa, Jenny, Jeff (Kim), Jeremy, and Amy (Marchelle), and by all of her grandchildren (and some others she viewed as grandchildren), her nieces and nephews who she also loved deeply, and more friends than anyone knows. She was preceded in death by her parents and her five siblings.

A service to honor her life will be held on Sunday, August 27, 2023, at 4pm, at Celebration Center Church in Puyallup.