Magnolia Road resident Marilyn Pinaud did just about everything during her life. She was an artist, a singer, an athlete, an outdoor enthusiast, a chef, a gardener, a wife and a mother who loved the mountains and her family. Marilyn died on Thursday, January 25, at her home, of lung cancer, with her family around her.
A few years ago, the local artist was in a ski accident and when she had chest x-rays taken, it was discovered she had a tumor. Since then, she has pursued the activities she loved, especially her painting, winning awards at the Gilpin County Arts Fair and showing her work at the Art at the Center in Nederland as well as at the Nederland Community Library. She was always looking for a new fresh way to express the world as she saw it, going from subtle, haunting images to vivid, bold stroked abstracts.
Marilyn was born in North Caldwell, New Jersey, on June 27, 1947 to Joseph Leonard Pinaud & Jane Veronica (McGuigan). The youngest of three children, Marilyn was raised by her widowed mother.
A lifelong fascination with the arts started early and led her to complete a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from Caldwell College. She had a particular talent for calligraphy and jewelry making and design. Marilyn parlayed those passions into a career as a graphic artist, first at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and then as the founder of her own company, Calligraphics. She was a charter member of The Red Wing Group, Worcester, MA’s first professional arts collaborative and gallery. An accomplished and award-winning painter, she exhibited her work widely, gaining an admiring & supportive audience and constantly pursuing new techniques, materials and inspirations.
At the age of 50, Marilyn, an avid athlete and outdoorswoman, climbed Mt. Ranier, hiked, skied and bicycled worldwide. Her interest in physical movement led her to start a personal training practice, Move, which focused on improving fitness for women with aging or injured bodies. Marilyn was also a singer and a cherished member of the Salisbury Singers, a mixed chorus of more than 80 singers dedicated to the enhancement of cultural life in Worcester and central Massachusetts.
Marilyn and her husband Mick of 30 years eventually settled near Magnolia Road and started a new chapter in their lives; a chapter filled with the Colorado outdoors.
Marilyn was predeceased by her parents and her brother Lt. Col. Joseph Hugh Pinaud, formally of Warner Robins, GA and her sister Elizabeth Jane Mantey, formally of Ignacio, CO.
Marilyn is survived by her husband, Edward (Mick) Michalowski, her former husband Paul Joseph, her children, Tucker Joseph of Copper Mountain, CO and Teague Joseph of North Kingstown, RI, Teague’s wife Meagan, and her granddaughter, Alice - Elizabeth. She is also survived by her extended family, Jay Michalowski of Frisco, CO, his wife Carrie and their children, Ty, Carson and Tanner Michalowski, of Portland, OR, and his wife Jacque.
Memorial services for Marilyn were held in Colorado on Saturday, February 24, 2018.
