Our December Activist of the Month, Marilyn Fair, was born in Detroit, but grew up in Orlando. She is the fourth of seven children, born to her homemaker mother and salesman father. Her maternal grandfather was an Irish immigrant who lived with the family several times over the years. Having only a 7th grade education, he was a self-made man who encouraged Marilyn to build her vocabulary and improve her grammar. She says, “He was my hero!”
Marilyn attended Florida State University, majoring in Criminology. She was a member of a sorority and held several different officer positions, one of which was philanthropy. Early on, she learned to volunteer to raise money for local charitable organizations. The late 1960s, a time of political unrest, caused Marilyn to become interested in politics, government and social issues. Marilyn went on to earn a Master’s Degree in Counseling, from Rollins College through the evening program, while working a full-time job and parenting three children.
After receiving her under graduate degree from FSU, she became one of the early employees at newly opened Walt Disney World. She started out in merchandising, but was later given the opportunity to be one of the first two women to be hired in the Security Department. Later, she worked as a Juvenile Probation Counselor for the Division of Youth Services (DYS) in the Orlando area. She married in 1974 and continued working for DYS in Jacksonville. A year later, they moved to Ohio. For several years while there, she worked in merchandising.
In 1981, they moved back to Central Florida. Marilyn found a job in Drug and Alcohol treatment. Over the years she worked for: Thee Door (now known as Aspire), Care Unit of Orlando, Orlando Health EAP, Colonial Counseling, Cornerstone and had a private practice in Lake Mary. Then, after 37 years as a mental health counselor, she retired.
Marilyn, a lifelong Democrat, began volunteering with the Democrats in 2008 when Barack Obama first ran for President, canvasing to register new voters. She joined SemDems in August 2019 because she wanted to something productive with her retirement. She indicates, “things that are important to Democrats are important to me: climate change, voter registration, equality for all, the economy, gerrymandering, the constitution and more.” During the last election, Marilyn was a fixture in the SemDems office, because she wanted to do something for the cause. She definitely thought it was fun to be the “button gal.” Under the tutelage of Kathy Wallace and Larry Guerra she learned the ropes. She enjoys talking to other democrats, expressing and exchanging ideas.
Outside of SemDems, her number one pastime is her nine grandchildren. She volunteers at her church and participates in her local alumni fraternity group. She hopes to travel more, especially to Ireland. She has already had many adventures including whitewater rafting, parasailing, scuba diving, sky diving, and visiting Motown. With all of her energy, the SemDems are lucky to have Marilyn as a volunteer!