FAMILY PLACED OBITUARY

MARILYN WAITE PRATER
$nameMARILYN WAITE PRATER Raquet Club resident Marilyn Ruth Waite Prater passed away suddenly on Sunday, September 27, in her beloved home overlooking Lake Chapala in San Juan Cosala, Jalisco Mexico. Marilyn Prater was born August 29, 1941, in Honolulu, where her father, Dr. Verne Charles Waite, had moved the family after he was assigned to Pearl Harbor with the Medical Corps. Just three months after his daughter's birth, Dr. Waite saw intense action treating victims of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. After an idyllic childhood in Hawaii, where she attended Punahou School, Marilyn entered management training with Sheraton Hotels. Born with natural beauty, she was often mistaken for Farrah Fawcett, often she was asked for autographs. Hearing this, a local newspaper sent a reporter to interview her for a story. She attended University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA. In her late 20s, she moved to San Francisco, and and later Malibu, where she worked for the famous Sand Castle Restaurant, which was much frequented by celebrities. During this time she met Don Prater, a musician and later owner of a financial services company. They married on July 18, 1985, and spent 20 years living and working in Ventura and Oak View, California. During that time, Marilyn worked part-time for a local vet, a job which perfectly suited her love of animals. After the Praters retired to Mexico in 2005, Marilyn volunteered at an orphanage, animal shelters and twice-yearly spay-neuter clinics at Lakeside. To relieve the misery of homeless dogs she encountered on the roads, she kept a bag of dog food in the trunk of her car. Her first loves were her two Border Collies, Coco and Puanani (meaning beautiful flower in Hawaiian). Marilyn had an active social life: she delighted in parties and dinners out with her many friends in the Raquet Club. Marilyn Prater is survived by her Aunt Betty Porter of Tulsa, Okla., cousins Karen DeSoto and Chuck Porter of Hilo Hawaii, Doris Montgomery, Vicki Negley of Tulsa Oklahoma, former husband Don Prater, and her mate, Ron Starr.

Our deepest condolences to the family and friends of the deceased

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