This is my mom's words, she wrote this. I love you mom!

MARILYN (LYNN) RYDER HERSHEY CHESSON

Marilyn (Lynn) Ryder Hershey Chesson died May 7, 2026 at Los Fuentes Resort Village in Prescott, Arizona. She was born Sept. 8, 1929 in Long Beach, California, to Maude and Carl G. Hershey, who proceeded her in death. Her family lived for a long time in Phoenix, Arizona and Torreon, Mexico, before settling in Alton, Illinois when she was 10 years old. She attended Alton public schools, and later graduated with honors in journalism from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. She was involved in many campus activities, and was a member of Delta Delta Delta sorority.
After graduation Lynn worked at Wohl Shoe Company in St. Louis, Missouri, as an advertising copy-writer before moving back to Champaign-Urbana to pursue a master’s degree. In 1953 she spent two months traveling in Europe on her own, devoting three weeks of that time to an Ecumenical Work Camp near Graz in Austria. She remained close friends with several work campers for many years.

On New Year’s Eve in 1953 she met Eugene (Gene) Chesson, a graduate student working on his doctorate in civil engineering at the University of Illinois. Lynn and Gene were married on August 21, 1954,  and had a belated three month honeymoon in Europe, traveling more than 10,000 miles while -camping.

Lynn worked for a time with an advertising agency in Champaign-Urbana where she became involved with early CBS television, producing and airing commercials and a weekly half-hour program live, and without a teleprompter. Later she was employed by a publishing company as editor of four-color illustrations for a new children’s encyclopedia.

After earning his doctorate, Gene became a faculty member at the University of Illinois. While there, the Chessons entertained numerous graduate students from around the world, particularly at Thanksgiving. They maintained some of these relationships for many years.

After 13 years in Champaign

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OBITUARY

Marilyn H Chesson

September 8, 1929 – May 7, 2026

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