Mrs. Marilyn Ann (Cram) Donahue's Obituary
Marilyn Cram Donahue, 91, of East Highlands, Ca, passed peacefully in her home surrounded by
family on February 12, 2024.
Marilyn was born March 4, 1932 to Fred L. Cram and Nellie J. Carter Cram, members of two
pioneer families of the San Bernardino Valley in Southern California. A fifth generation
Californian, she grew up on Main Street in Highland and continued to live in East Highlands,
throughout her life, not far from where her great-grandfather planted the first orange trees in that
area.
Marilyn graduated from San Bernardino High School in 1950 and attended Pomona College in
Claremont, CA where she received her B.A. in English Literature and Music with a
concentration on Piano Performance in 1954. After graduation, she married Bob Donahue and
their first child, a daughter, was born in 1955 in Waco, Texas, where Bob was stationed in the Air
Force. They moved back to Southern California in 1956 where they raised their family of four
children, one girl and three boys. In 1963, they moved from Del Rosa to East Highland, CA.
Marilyn was active in the PTA at Cram School and also taught the Jr. High Sunday School class
with her husband, Bob, at the Highland Congregational Church, where her family has attended
since the first services were held in 1882 at the original Cram School that was located at Baseline
and Bledsoe Gulch in East Highlands. She was also an active member of The Highland Women’s
Club, P.E.O., and the Phi Beta Kappa Society.
Always looking to create family fun and adventures, Marilyn conspired with Bob and took their
children out of school for three months in 1969 to travel on a ship through the Panama Canal,
across the Atlantic Ocean to the British Isles, to get an up-front look at the family’s historical
roots. The family (children ages 9-15) toured England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales for three
months in a blue Volkswagen Bus. This would be only the beginning of Marilyn’s travel
adventures. Over the years, Marilyn and her husband, Bob, traveled the world. Among their
many escapades, they went to China seven times, traveled with friends on the Orient Express,
soared above the Himalayas, explored Tibet, and wandered the Highlands of Scotland, where her
favorite spot continued to be the moonstone bedazzled beach at Lunan Bay. Together, they had
many wonderful journeys in over 75 different countries between 1977 and 1991.
While still raising her family and being active in the community, Marilyn began writing. She had
originally studied to be a concert pianist, but she soon discovered that putting her fingers on
typewriter keys, rather than piano keys, was where she would fulfill her true calling. At first, she
wrote a lighthearted weekly column entitled “Coffee Break” for five regional newspapers,
sharing the adventures and antics of her family. Soon, she was writing articles for many
magazines, including Ranger Rick, Guideposts, Lutheran Standard, Today’s Christian Parent,
Hoosier Challenger, Scope, and many others. Altogether she has had over 500 articles and short
stories published in a wide breadth of publications.
As Marilyn continued writing, short stories grew into 32 novels which have been published from
1970-2022. She also co-authored several books with her husband Bob, including a travel series
and six books for teens. The repeating theme ran through all of her books that “The journey you
take in life is your goal — not some destination at the end of the trip.”
Marilyn conducted the monthly writer’s group for the worldwide community of the Society of
Children’s Bookwriters and Illustrators (SCBWI) in the Inland Empire and also facilitated two
critique groups. She started a Memoir Writing Group which continues to thrive, bringing people
in the community together helping them give a voice to their personal stories.
Marilyn served as a career advisor for Pomona College and as a consultant to the National
Writing Project at University of California Riverside, as well as being a requested speaker at
many writing workshops and retreats, author’s festivals, conferences, public schools and
universities. She loved to teach, her special interest in teaching writing was in teaching setting.
“A sense of place,” she always said, “is essential for a successful story.”
Her book The Crooked Gate won the David C. Cook Chariot Book award in 1979; Straight
Along a Crooked Road was used in the curriculum for teaching California History in California
Schools for many years, receiving a nomination for the esteemed Young Hoosier Book award
1998-1999. The Valley In Between was chosen by the New York Public Library as one of the
300 Best Books in 1987. Her books received positive reviews in the New York Times.
Marilyn also taught English as a Second Language for the San Bernardino Adult Education
School for over 30 years. She loved teaching ESL classes, where she especially enjoyed and was
dedicated to her students from many diverse backgrounds, whom she continues to hear from as
they achieve their goals. A gifted teacher, she received Good Will Industry’s Star award for
Outstanding Community Achievement in 1994; California Teacher of the Year for ESL in 1995;
and, CALCO Excellence in Teaching award in 1996.
Marilyn achieved many of her goals and continued to write after she retired from teaching, never
ceasing having many ideas for new stories she wanted to tell. She was a lover of history and
through her stories and memoirs she kept the past alive; she deeply revered those who had paid a
difficult price so future generations could be blessed. Many often sought her out for her
knowledge of the San Bernardino Valley.
The greatest achievement and joy of Marilyn’s life was her beloved family. She loved children
and knew how to spark an inquisitive mind’s imagination to aspire to a higher purpose. She
loved life and people. Marilyn never knew a stranger, and she saw everyone as a child of God.
Her children are grateful that they will continue to be able to hear her voice through her writings,
memoirs and poetry that she has left for them and her family’s future generations. Marilyn’s was
a life well-lived; she will never be forgotten.
Marilyn leaves behind four children, their spouses, eight grandchildren and two great grandsons:
Daughter, Margaret Donahue-Rippetue and her husband, Lyn of Redlands, CA; grandsons David
Gunther; Michael Gunther and his wife Larisa and great-grandsons Jakey and Dylan Gunther, all
of Redlands, CA; Son, Tom Donahue and his wife Pam, of Redlands, CA; grandson Wesley
Donahue and his wife Katie of Discovery Bay, CA, and grandson Daniel Donahue of Redlands,
CA; Son, John Donahue and his wife, Jana, of Costa Mesa, CA; granddaughter, Allison Donahue
of San Gabriel, CA, and grandson Chris Donahue of Santa Fe Springs, CA; Son, Michael
Donahue and his wife Barbara, of East Highlands, CA; grandsons Stephen Donahue of East
Highlands; Brandon Donahue and his fiancé, Lauren Hollifield of Redlands, CA.
A memorial service will be held on Monday, March 4, 2024 at 1:00 p.m. at the Highland
Congregational Church, 3606 Atlantic Avenue, Highland. Private interment services will be held
at Mountain View Cemetery in San Bernardino
What’s your fondest memory of Marilyn?
What’s a lesson you learned from Marilyn?
Share a story where Marilyn's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Marilyn you’ll never forget.
How did Marilyn make you smile?