Marilyn Slater McCapes
Oct. 27, 1933 — Jan. 28, 2012
Marilyn Slater McCapes, 78, passed away peacefully early Saturday morning, Jan. 28, 2012, in her Davis home of 40 years, with her family. She had been a Yolo County resident for 66 years.
She was born in Sacramento on Oct. 27, 1933, the only child of her parents Virginia C. and Colby E. “Babe” Slater, grew up on their farm in Clarksburg graduated from Clarksburg High School in 1951. In the fall of 1951 she enrolled as a freshman at the University of California, Davis and graduated in 1955 from the College of Letters and Science.
Her aunt, Marguerite Slater, a UC Berkeley student, was one of the first three women to take coursework at UC Davis (then the University Farm) in 1914. Marilyn’s father Colby E. “Babe” Slater attended UCD from 1914 to 1917. He was a gifted athlete and student leader while at Davis and later won two Olympic gold medals in rugby.
Marilyn and her husband Richard H. “Dick” McCapes, also a UCD student, met in the fall of 1952 and were married in 1955. They moved from Davis in 1958 after Dick’s graduation from the School of Veterinary Medicine. In 1970, they and their children moved back to Davis where Dick was associated with the UCD veterinary school.
Marilyn’s principal and unfaltering love was for her family, was a devoted mother of five, grandmother of nine and enjoyed close friendships. She had a great love of farming, managed the operation of the Clarksburg farm including the lease of acreage in 2009 for wine grape production and watched the first grape harvest last fall. Similarly she was delighted by gardening and greatly admired the UC Davis Arboretum, which she frequently visited.
A personal joy was her decision in 2003 to gift her father’s gold medals to UCD to be displayed in perpetuity in the Cal Aggie Athletic Hall of Fame and his other sports, Olympic and personal memorabilia to Shields Library. She and Dick were fans and supporters of the UCD men’s rugby club.
She found time for other community activities including serving as president of the University Farm Circle and Prytanean, vice president of the California Veterinary Medicine Association Auxiliary and advisor to the Auxiliary to the Student Chapter of the American Veterinary Medicine Association at UCD.
Marilyn is survived by her husband Richard of 57 years, her children Patricia Bahrijczuk, Jeffrey McCapes, Elizabeth McCapes, John (Lisa) McCapes and Carolyn (Doug) Jensen and her grandchildren Kaitlin Bahrijczuk, Justin McCapes, Hannah Turner, Brandon McCapes, Dylan McCapes, Elaine Turner, Emma McCapes, Colby McCapes and Kyle McCapes.
Our thanks to our friends, neighbors and caregivers for their unwavering support of Marilyn and our family.
Marilyn was interred in the Davis Cemetery on Tuesday, Jan. 31.
A Memorial Service for Marilyn will begin at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11, at the Davis Community Church, 412 C Street in Davis. A reception in the church Fellowship Hall is planned immediately following the memorial service.
Donations can be made to the UC Davis Arboretum (http://arboretum.ucdavis.edu) the Sacramento Sutter VNA & Hospice program (www.suttervnahospice.org/gifts) or the UC Davis Men’s Rugby Club (ucdrugby@live.com).
Those who wish to sign a guestbook online may do so at www.wiscombefuneral.com
Short URL: http://www.davisenterprise.com/?p=133535
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Posted by Special to The Enterprise
on Feb 3 2012.
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