Maralyn Hough

Passionate about people, Maralyn Hough, lived her life to the fullest. A natural nurturer, she had an immense love for her family. Maralyn leaves behind a legacy of generosity and will be deeply missed and lovingly remembered by her many special friends and loved ones.

The year 1938, brought the most anticipated sporting event of the 20th century; the underdog Seabiscuit defeated War Admiral at the Pimlico Race Course making history! Also, the Fair Labor Standards Act brought about significant changes to labor agreements and child labor laws. Finally, the Great New England Hurricane claimed many lives and caused more than $620 in damages across the region. In Grand Rapids, Michigan, Maynard and Leola (Miller) Galloway welcomed their newborn daughter, Maralyn Kay, on April 10th. Born sandwiched between her two older siblings, Joyce and Bill, and younger siblings, Susie and Dan, her birth brought much happiness to the family home.

Growing up on Plainfield on the northeast side of town, Maralyn and her siblings learned the value of a hard day’s work. Her parents owned their own furniture business and repair shop. While her father made business transactions with Steelcase, Herman Miller, and other large furniture companies, her mother completed all the sewing needed for pieces both new and old. Maralyn lived a typical childhood of the times. Ambitious as well as studious, she was a proud graduate of the Class of 1956 from Creston High School. Maralyn and her high school sweetheart, Dick Hough joined in marriage on May 18, 1957, just a few weeks before he left for the service.

After his discharge from the service, Dick and Maralyn stayed in their apartment until they moved into their home at 645 Byers NE. He started out selling insurance before he took a job with CB Meyers selling toys. Eventually, this led to driving a truck and delivering toys to the Ben Franklin stores. He later drove a truck for a paper delivery company. Maralyn enjoyed her years working at the local Herppelsheimer store. She also worked as a bookkeeper. When they adopted their two boys, Clint and Kim, the course of their lives changed forever. Their young family managed a small chicken farm where Maralyn was the butcher. She also worked at the Wayland Auction House Café as a cook, server, and dishwasher. During her boys’ formative years, her family remembers her as a Shaklee Health Food Distributor and a stay-at-home mom. She raised her boys on the purple shakes filled with protein powder, alfalfa powder, Cod liver oil, and Liqui-Lea juice which turned the shake purple. Her children were her everything.

As a mother, Maralyn wanted nothing but the best for her boys. She homeschooled them with a daily Phonic routine and taught them the importance of pronouncing words correctly. Later, she helped them with their homework and quizzed them before tests. She never missed any opportunity to cheer them on in any activity they enjoyed. Maralyn had strict rules and expectations, yet there was never any doubt that she loved them.

As a family, they vacationed in Saugatuck. They enjoyed camping together and sharing stories around the campfire. Maralyn balanced her time with the boys with her involvement in their church as well. She taught Sunday school for many years. Her creative and artistic talents were a gift she shared during these years making her own paper mache puppets to teach the Bible stories. Maralyn’s family was blessed with her amazing crafts in the kitchen. Owning their own farm with a large vegetable garden supported her culinary arts. She worked her magic with any meal and enjoyed fixing chicken, meatloaf, and homemade pizza from scratch! Whenever the family dined out, their usual stop was Bill Knapps.

During their retirement years, she and Dick enjoyed many favorite pastimes. They traveled often to Florida to visit relatives and to California to visit their son, Kim. A highlight was taking the Pacific West Liner to San Francisco. As they became more comfortable with travel, they enjoyed train rides on the Canadian railways. Their stays in Florida slowly increased in length until they eventually moved to Bradenton. Maralyn immersed herself in the artistic community. She was a fabulous oil painter and for most of her life devoted any of her free time in dabbling with ceramic figures and landscapes. Maralyn's gift of writing grew into her later years where she journaled daily and wrote stories. Sadly, her remaining years were burdened with her diagnosis of Alzheimer’s. Her family surrounded her with love and supported her on her journey home. They found joy in the moments of listening to her disease call them unfamiliar names that she would have never said in her healthy years. They remained close and tenderly cared for her during these tough times.

Maralyn was a beautiful soul who loved the Lord with an intense passion. She modeled for everyone to be kind and loyal. Described as a genuine person to know and love, her positive and caring ways will surely live on in the hearts of her many special friends and family for countless years to come.

Maralyn K. Hough, age 86, of Grand Rapids and Wayland, Michigan passed away peacefully on Wednesday, October 16, 2024.

She was born in Grand Rapids in the spring of 1938 to the late Maynard and Leola Galloway. Along with her parents, Maralyn is preceded in death by her brother, Bill and his wife, Lila Galloway; her sister, Susan and her husband Bob Brown; her sister, Joyce Bergman, and sister- in-law, Cindy Galloway. Maralyn is also preceded in death by her husband, Dick (Richard) Hough who died in 2010.

Maralyn is survived by her two sons; Clint (Cindy) Hough and Kim Gregory Hough and her grandson, Tyler Hough. Also surviving are her brother, Dan Galloway, and brother-in-law, Bill Bergman.

A Celebration of Life gathering followed by a reception, will take place on Saturday, November 2, 2024, at 12:00 PM at the Heritage Life Story Funeral Home, Van Strien Chapel, (1833 Plainfield Ave. NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49505). Friends may visit with her family from 11:00 AM until the time of the service at 12:00 PM. To share a memory or photo, or to sign her guestbook, visit www.heritagelifestory.com