Marilyn Ann Zapata's Obituary
Marilyn Ann Zapata (née Bellinghausen) died Wednesday, October 14,
2020 at 7:15 pm. She was born October 17, 1941 in Wichita, Sedgwick
County, Kansas to Joseph H. Bellinghausen and Dolly Fern Bellinghausen
(née Jackson). She is survived by her loving husband, Arturo "Art" Zapata.
She attended All Saints grade school, St. Mary’s High School and Wichita
State University. She worked at the Boeing Company as a secretary for
some years before moving to Cocoa Beach, Florida to work on the Space
Program at Cape Canaveral for the Boeing Company. Later she moved to
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, temporarily working on a cruise ship, then
working for an engineering firm. She then moved to South Bend, Indiana
where she married Art Zapata June 17, 1978. Later they moved to the
Corpus Christi TX area, then to the Houston TX area. She worked as a
transcriber and proof reader until her retirement at the end of 2012. Marilyn
and her husband enjoyed traveling. In a more than 40-year period, they
visited countries on all the continents of the earth except for Antarctica.
She enjoyed tennis, mah jongg, book club, bridge, garage saleing, was a
great story teller, a prolific artist — involved in painting, pottery, writing,
photography, and various crafts. She wrote five books and was working on
one more. People were drawn to her on every path she took regardless of
language barriers or distances. She made them smile. Her joy was being
among friends and family, delighting them with accounts from her active
life with her husband and their travels. She brightened every place she
went. Her favorite quote was from Auntie Mame, “Life is a banquet, and
most poor suckers are starving to death.” She will be dearly missed by so
many friends and family. She will be cremated and her ashes will reside at
the Whispering Oaks Columbarium of South Park Cemetary, 1310 North
Main Street, Pearland, TX 77581. A funeral ceremony date is pending. In
lieu of flowers, Marilyn asked that donations be made to MD Anderson
Cancer Center at gifts.mdanderson.org in Memory of Marilyn Ann Zapata.
What’s your fondest memory of Marilyn?
What’s a lesson you learned from Marilyn?
Share a story where Marilyn's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Marilyn you’ll never forget.
How did Marilyn make you smile?