Marilyn Colla died peacefully on Thursday, May 3, just before her 71st birthday at her home in Edgartown with her husband by her side. She was married to Roger Colla for 43 years.

Marilyn was born in Manchester, N.H. on May 8, 1941, the daughter of Francis B. Patterson and Helen Thompson. She grew up in Exeter, N.H. and received her bachelors degree from Plymouth State University in 1963. She went on to receive her master’s degree from the University of Connecticut in 1966. She lived in Glastonbury, Conn. and taught for 35 years at South Windsor, Conn. public schools, grades four through six. She retired in 1998.

She and her husband summered on Martha’s Vineyard until living here permanently after her retirement. Marilyn was a member of the Women’s Club of Martha’s Vineyard and volunteered at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. She was a parishioner of the Good Shepherd Parish at St. Elizabeth’s Church, where she was a eucharistic minister and attended bible studies weekly.

Marilyn enjoyed walking, bicycling, puzzles, crocheting, gardening and reading. She also enjoyed travel, especially by sea, rail and motorcycle sidecar.

She is survived by her husband, Roger, her brother, William Patterson of Louisa, Va., and her sister, Joan Sullivan, of Cary, N.C.; also by her brothers and sisters in law, Nancy Fryer of N. Brandford, Conn., Diane Kennedy of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, Wayne Colla of South Windsor and James Colla of Coeur-D’Alene, Idaho; and several nieces and nephews.

A memorial mass will be celebrated in St. Elizabeth’s Church in Edgartown, on Monday, July 2, at 10 a.m.

Donations may be made in her memory to the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, P.O. Box 1477, Oak Bluffs, MA 02557 or to the American Cancer Society, 30 Speen street, Framingham, MA 01701.

Arrangements are under the care of the Chapman, Cole and Gleason Funeral Home in Oak Bluffs. Please visit ccgfuneralhome.com for online guest book and information.