Marilyn Mitro Mayor

Marilyn Mitro Mayor brought music, resilience, and a welcoming smile to a life that crossed San Antonio, New Orleans, Houston, and Colorado Springs. She died in Colorado Springs on 28 August 2026 after a long illness following cancer treatment. She was 87. She was born on 1 December 1938 in San Antonio, Texas, to Mary Irene Vaughan and was reared in large part by Adele (Dela) Johnston while her mother worked. Later her mother married Julius Mitro, a professional violinist and bandleader who became a loving stepfather.

As a teenager Marilyn sang as featured soloist in Julius's band, earning wages that taught her self reliance. She was a majorette in the Brackenridge High School Purple Jackets and swam on a synchronized team that performed at the Lone Star Brewery. College finances went to her half brothers; she never turned bitter, staying positive with the hand she was dealt.

Widowed twice, she rebuilt her life with determination. After her first husband, Bruce Werner, died in New Orleans while their sons were college aged, she moved from full time homemaking into careers as a Metropolitan Life agent and a licensed residential real estate agent. Her second husband, Robert Norman, a decorated World War II Marine fighter pilot, died after a stroke. She had cared for him and traveled widely with him, including to the South Pacific where he had served.

In Houston she joined the Blue Bird Circle, volunteering for Texas Children's Hospital and its resale shop, and modeled in a fundraising style show. She loved the Houston Grand Opera and Houston Symphony, even lending the symphony her Vincenzo Postiglione violin. She collected art, played bridge, gardened, and served as president of the Pine Briar Circle homeowners association.

On 21 March 2013 she married Richard Blair Mayor. They traveled in Europe and China, walked Manhattan, and shared homes on Vancouver Island and at Cordillera Ranch in the Texas Hill Country, where she golfed, hiked, played bridge, and learned the Texas Two Step. She was fiercely loyal to sons Mark and Brian and delighted in grandson Stefan and his children.

She is survived by sons Mark Russell Werner (Karen) and Brian Russell Werner (Diane); grandson Stefan Michael Werner (Korinn) and great grandchildren Owen and Emma Mae; and husband Richard Blair Mayor and his extended family. Memorial arrangements were entrusted to Tri Lakes Funeral and Cremation, with notice published through the Houston Chronicle and Legacy.com.

Her memorial remembers a singer's poise, a widow's grit, and a wife's companionship, offered without bitterness to the people and places she loved.