Thomas Stanley Marley

Our beloved Husband, Brother, Father, and Friend Thomas Stanley Marley passed away peacefully at his home in Jefferson, Oregon on December 3, 2023 in the company of his darling wife of almost 61 years, Myrna Rae Marley.  Thomas had just celebrated his 82^nd birthday on November 17^th.  In his words, he never thought he’d live so long.  At age 54, Thomas had a massive heart attack in the ICU at the Salem, Oregon hospital and it is a miracle he survived to age 55.  According to Tom, he didn’t want to go to the hospital that day because he just had a little shortness of breath.  It would take Myrna the entire day to convince him to go to the hospital to get checked out.  After running a series of tests, the doctors told Tom that all seemed to be in order.  As Tom prepared to leave, the doctor asked, merely as a precaution, if he would stay the night.  With some serious coaxing from Myrna, Tom reluctantly agreed.  Interestingly, there were no beds available in the Intermediate Care wing of the hospital and the only bed available was in the Cardiac ICU.  So, Tom went to the ICU and, as protocol in the ICU would dictate, he was immediately hooked up to all of the monitoring machines, IVs, and other “nonsense”.   This all seemed very excessive at the time because Tom felt fine.  At some point in the evening, Tom had to use the facilities (#1).  The nurse immediately brought him a bedpan.  This was not very “manly” and Tom told the nurse as much.  When he got up to go to the bathroom as any “man” would, his heart gave out and he suffered a massive heart attack.  At that point, Tom had what he would call a very sacred experience where he left his body and saw the doctors and others working to revive him.  As Tom watched the frantic effort to save his life, he joked to himself that, “that heart attack really hurt…but not as bad as those darn kidney stones”.  Tom laughed to himself that he was “dead” but still had his sense of humor. The doctors used the paddles at total of six times and were finally able to bring him back to life.  Since that experience, Tom did not have any trepidation about death.  That experience coupled with his faith in God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ made him even more resolute in his testimony that we will live after death and that death is more like coming home than going to a strange and foreign place. 

Tom retired from over 20 years in insurance about 5 years later and enjoyed many years of hunting at the cabin, serving in the church and in the temple, supporting his children and grandchildren, maintaining a bird and plant sanctuary, and spending time with Myrna. 

When Tom was 66 years old, his only brother Bradford Dale Marley passed away unexpectedly at the hunting cabin in Rome, Oregon.  This was very hard on Tom as he and Brad were best of friends and forever loyal and true to one another.  Since then, Tom mentioned often how he looked forward to seeing Brad again one day.  We are sure that he and Brad as well as his parents and grandparents who passed before him have had a wonderful reunion since his passing.

As Providence would dictate, in early September of this year, Tom had a serious and life-threatening medical issue that sent him to the hospital.  In true Tom Marley fashion, he beat the odds and came home from the hospital to Jefferson with only a “few days to live”.  He survived three months at home on hospice and during that time was visited daily, sometimes hourly, by many dear friends and acquaintances, all of whom attested to the impact that Tom had and was still having on their lives.  Tom was truly a unique man with many positive characteristics such as integrity, humor, wisdom, courage, kindness, and a desire to see other’s lives improve. 

Thomas Stanley Marley was preceded in death by his father Thomas Whiting Marley, his mother Dixie Glenna Marley (Daniels), and his brother Bradford Dale Marley.  He is survived by his lovely wife Myrna Rae Marley (Fransway), his only sister Patti Marley (Nash), their five children and spouses including Eric and Emily Marley, Kirk and Maryline Marley, Christopher and Allison Marley, Darcie Marley and Nicholas Martinson, and Mitchell and Crystal Marley.  He is also survived by 16 grandchildren and a half-dozen great-grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on Friday, the 15^th of December at 10:00 am.  The address of the church is 4550 Lone Oak Rd. SE, Salem, Oregon 97302.  All are welcome to celebrate Tom’s wonderful life.  Please come join us.