Marion Eloise Bird Millerberg

Marion Eloise Bird Millerberg passed away on September 6, 2026, at the age of 99, after a long life filled with family, friends, teaching, travel, golf, a beloved cabin in Big Cottonwood Canyon, and more than a few good stories.

Marion was born February 11, 1927, at home in Bingham Canyon, Utah, to Bryan W. and Hazel Hartman Bird. She was the oldest of four daughters and spent her early childhood at 45 Markham Gulch in the mining town she would remember fondly throughout her life.

By Marion's own account, she was an adventurous child who preferred being outdoors—hiking the hills, riding her Flexible Flyer sled, playing marbles and seeking out whatever adventure might come next. She was also, she readily admitted, the child more likely to find herself sitting in a chair contemplating her latest transgression.

In 1938, the Bird family moved from Bingham Canyon to East Midvale. Marion attended Jordan High School, where she was involved with the school newspaper, and graduated in 1945. She attended Brigham Young University following high school.

Marion had known Arthur "Art" Arden Millerberg growing up, but their story really began after Art returned from serving in the Army during World War II and Marion returned home from BYU. They began spending time together—playing tennis, going to movies and attending dances—and before long, friendship became something more. As Marion later described it, "It just seemed to naturally happen" that the two of them ended up shopping for an engagement ring.

Marion and Art were married in the Salt Lake Temple on November 12, 1946. Their marriage would span more than 75 years and become the foundation of a life filled with family, work, adventure and enduring companionship. Together they raised three children: Marilyn, Bryan and Douglas.

While raising her family, Marion returned to school at the University of Utah, where she studied elementary education and graduated with honors. She went on to spend 26 years as an educator in Jordan School District, teaching at Union Elementary, East Midvale Elementary, Oquirrh Elementary and Bingham Middle School. She embraced innovative approaches to teaching, worked with student teachers and future educators, and formed friendships that continued well beyond her years in the classroom.

Marion retired in 1987 and found plenty of ways to fill the years that followed.

One of her great loves was golf. She played for decades in leagues and tournaments and on courses near and far. She accomplished the feat most golfers spend a lifetime hoping for not once, but twice—making a hole-in-one at Mountain View Golf Course in 1987 and another at Glenmore Golf Course in 2002.

Another enduring part of Marion and Art's life together was Big Cottonwood Canyon. Both had spent summers in their younger years working and, in Marion's words, "fooling around" at Brighton and Maxfield Lodge, and they shared a lifelong love of the canyon.

In 1952, a chance encounter during a drive up Silver Fork led Art to learn of two undeveloped lots for sale for $400 each. Eventually both lots became theirs, and with considerably more determination than formal planning, Marion and Art began building the family cabin.

The cabin was truly built by hand and with help from family and friends. Marion hauled wheelbarrows of concrete uphill while Art and others worked on the foundation. Materials were new, used, donated and repurposed—including an old refrigerator and deck timbers from the Bingham Ice and Beer Depot. The first roof involved corrugated aluminum, mountain winds and enough adventure that Marion later summed up the experience simply: "We learn by experience."

What they built became much more than a cabin. For more than 70 years it has been the setting for family stories—teenage sleepovers, fishing trips, snow caves, rides on the Yamaha, wildlife near the deck, games, sledding, visits and generations of family spending time together in the canyon. Late in her life, Marion wrote that although the cabin had changed a little over the years, "it stays the same a lot." It remains a lasting part of the life she and Art built together.

Marion and Art also loved to travel. Their years together included trips throughout the United States and beyond, visits with family and friends, fishing adventures and plenty of experiences that became better stories with time. Marion had a wonderful ability to find humor in everyday life and, fortunately for her family, she wrote many of those memories down.

Above everything else, Marion's life centered around the people she loved. She watched her children build lives and families of their own and delighted in becoming a grandmother and great-grandmother. She attended weddings, graduations, birthdays and family gatherings and took great pride in the accomplishments—large and small—of the generations that followed her.

Marion was preceded in death by her husband and companion of more than 75 years, Arthur Arden Millerberg, who passed away February 27, 2022; her son, Douglas Millerberg; her parents, Bryan and Hazel Bird; and her sister, Gloria Ventura.

She is survived by her children, Marilyn (Bill) Morley and Bryan (Jan) Millerberg; daughter-in-law Debby Millerberg; sisters Joanne (Joe) Buhler and Polly Jensen; eight grandchildren; 17 great-grandchildren; and many extended family members and friends.

For nearly a century, Marion collected experiences and the stories that came with them. She was a wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, teacher, golfer, traveler, and storyteller. She was independent, capable, curious, and quick to find humor in the imperfect moments of life.

Perhaps one of Marion's own observations about the family cabin says something about her life as well: it changed a little through the years, but stayed the same a lot. The people around her grew, families expanded, places changed and years passed, but the things that mattered most to Marion—family, friendship, laughter and the people with whom she shared her life—remained.

Funeral services will be held Monday, September 14, 2026 at Goff Mortuary, 8090 S. State St., Midvale. A viewing will be held from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m., followed by funeral services from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Interment will follow at Midvale City Cemetery.