Frances Wynns Marrus

Mrs. Frances Wynns Kundtson Marrus, died Thursday, October 19, 2006, in Mill Valley, California, following a long battle with cancer. Funeral services will be conducted at 2 p.m. Saturday at Pisgah Methodist Church with Rev. Phillip Wright officiating. Burial will be in Pisgah Ridge Cemetery. Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Memorials may be made to American Cancer Society, P.O. Box 22718, Oklahoma City, OK, 75123-1718 or to any local organization supporting programs for children. Notes of sympathy may be sent to the family at www.oakesandnichols.com. The Toledo, Ohio native was the daughter of the late Colbert B. Wynns and Nettie Elizabeth Akin Wynns. A 1959 graduate of Girls' Preparatory School, Frances was an active Mariner Scout throughout her high school years. During her junior year, she was elected to represent the Moccasin Bend Girl Scout Council and her country at the international Girl Scout event held at Our Chalet in Switzerland. She graduated with Honors from Newcomb College, Tulane University, where she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and the Alpha Omicron Pi social sorority. Pursuing her interest in child development, she studied under Jean Piaget at the Sorbonne, in Paris, France, during her junior year. Having been awarded a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, she earned her Masters Degree at the University of Rochester, New York. She held fellowships from the National Institute of Mental Health while pursuing her doctoral studies at the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota. Frances spent her entire professional career as a developmental psychologist. Her research, clinical experience and teaching focused on the developmental issues of children from conception through their first five years of life. Prior to her retirement, she taught in the graduate program as a Lecturer in psychology at San Francisco State University. She also served as a consultant to numerous research programs, including studies carried out at Children's Hospital, Oakland and Alta Bates Medical Center, Berkeley. She is survived by her husband of 29 years, Barry Stephen Marrus of Henderson, Nevada; sister, Charlotte (John) Thomason of College Grove; brother-in-law, Alan (Kathy) Marrus of Annandale, New Jersey; niece, Tracy Allen of Knoxville; nephews, Douglas (Tiffany) Allen of Atlanta, Georgia, Brett Marrus, Ryan Marrus both of Annandale, NJ; and great-niece, Graham Allen of Atlanta, GA. Pallbearers will be John Thomason, Douglas Allen, Alan Marrus, Billy Walker and Brett Marrus.