Marilee was born on March 23rd in the same year as Kathie Lee Gifford and Jeb Bush (no relation – just trivia). She was raised in rural, small-town Missouri. (How small was it? She was one of 35 students in her high school graduating class.) And she had a fairly normal childhood in spite of the fact that she was related to both McCoys and Hatfields.

After many years living in England, Alaska and Florida, she moved to Richmond, Virginia, in 1994 and found that, except for the mountains and the ocean, Virginia is extremely similar to Missouri, so it was almost like coming home.

Another “coming home” experience happened in 1999 when she and her husband, Bill, moved to Smith Mountain Lake and could finally attend Blue Ridge Community Church full-time. They had been friends with Woody and Nan Torrence for more than a decade (rumor has it that Woody & Nan even tagged along on Bill & Marilee's honeymoon), had visited Blue Ridge many times, and had even been baptized in the Moody's pool by Woody & Nan in 1989.

Marilee has at least a little involvement in a lot of things at Blue Ridge. She oversees the bulletins and the website (except this page), proofreads almost every printed document that gets distributed, and she always goes the extra mile to help solve problems and make newcomers feel at home.

She loves having family close by – daughter Angela Carroll and son-in-law Matt work in student ministries at Blue Ridge, and son Chad Needham also lives in Lynchburg.

Besides family and friends, some of Marilee's favorite things are the beauty of God's creation – things like brightly colored birds and fish, multiple-colored leaves and blooms in the spring and fall, fresh corn-on-the-cob and homegrown tomatoes, watching the sun come up or go down, and playing in the lake when it reaches 80+ degrees during the summer.

mearle@blue-ridge.org
434.525.7481 ext 119