Marilyn Walding Latta

Marilyn Walding Latta of Dothan, Alabama, died peacefully on August 31, 2021. She was 87.

Marilyn was born to Col. M.M. Walding and Nellie Scarborough Walding and grew up in Dothan. She loved horses and competing in local horse shows with her beloved Black Beauty and Dash Tut. At age six in 1940 she lost her older brother, Hoyt Walding, in a tragic accident as they traveled together to visit their father who was commanding a CCC Camp in Louisiana.

Marilyn graduated from Dothan High School in 1952 and the University of Alabama in 1956. She received additional post-graduate degrees from Auburn and Troy University. She was a lifelong educator who co-founded one of Dothan’s first kindergartens before becoming a public school teacher in Daleville and Columbia and later retiring from Dothan High School. She served as President of the Dothan Education Association and was active in the Alabama and National Education Associations and several professional organizations. One of her proudest honors was being elected by her peers to serve on the Board of the Alabama Teachers Retirement System during an extraordinary period of creative investment in the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail and major office buildings.

Marilyn loved the sound of laughter, giving parties, doing things with friends, and traveling. A fifth-generation Alabamian, she descended from one of the first State legislators in Cahaba and was deeply interested in Alabama history. She planned her schedule around live theatre performances, folk art festivals, garden and wildflower tours, antique glass shows, and her grandchildren’s birthdays. It often was said, she never met an antique shop she didn’t like. Marilyn was a season member of SEACT, the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, and active in the Southeast Alabama Camellia Society.

Survivors include her two sons, Forrest Latta (Kathy) of Mobile, AL, and Emory Latta (Debbie) of Dothan; five grandchildren, Lindsey Fain (Chris) of Chattanooga, TN, Forrest Latta Jr. (Laura) of Nashville, TN, Brooks Latta (Lauren) of Huntsville, AL, William Latta (Lauren) of Mobile, AL, and Emily Anne Grisham (Eric) of Huntsville, AL; and 9 great grandchildren.

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