The Legacy of Marian Gyr: Environmentalist, Patriot, and Local Icon

Taking the road less traveled for 97 years

By Ross Boissoneau | March 16, 2024

You could say Marian Gyr took the road less traveled, but you’d need to apply that saying both literally and figuratively.

She was a fierce advocate for numerous causes, going her own way despite whatever the prevailing winds were. A world traveler, she lived in Europe and Canada as well as here in northern Michigan. And when she passed away at the age of 97 in 2019, she’d logged thousands of miles afoot across the roads of Benzie and Leelanau counties—plus Switzerland, Canada, and beyond.

“She walked everywhere,” says longtime family friend Keith Schneider. “You’d find her miles from anything walking.”

Her son Jack, who owns Field Crafts in Honor and lives in Empire, says people that knew Marian and saw her out walking invariably offered her a ride—which she would cheerfully decline. That was simply a part of who she was and who she had long been.

Jack says in the family’s early years, Marian taught school about five miles from their home in Brighton. Her husband would drop her off at school on his way to his job at the University of Michigan, then she’d walk home in the afternoon—no matter the season or the weather. “She had a certain amount of tenacity,” he says in an understatement.

Even when she was slowed down by degenerative hips and landed in a wheelchair, Marian didn’t give in. Following hip replacement surgery—both hips—she returned to walking. Jack says she had been withering away, but after the surgeries she recovered so well it was as if she’d been given a new lease on life, or at least on walking. “It was something to watch. The muscle atrophy went away. She got healthy.”

Blazing a Trail

Indeed, throughout her life Marian was a tireless advocate for health and fitness, as well as the environment and the public interest. She saw the potential for all those to come together in a publicly-accessible trail where once the rail lines had transported people to and from the region.

For two years, she walked (of course) door to door, espousing the virtues of a non-motorized trail connecting Benzie County. She believed a trail was more valuable than privatizing the land and giving those who bordered it a little more property.

That attitude wasn’t always welcome, and a number of people opposed the creation of a public trail. “A group of homeowners objected to it over property rights,” recalls Schneider. “They filed a lawsuit to impede the development.”

“Some people put pontoon boats on top of the railroad trails to claim them,” Jack adds with a laugh.

No matter. Marian and other proponents were tireless in their efforts, and the first mile of the Betsie Valley Trail was opened in 2000; the trail hosted a grand opening in 2003. Schneider says as a compromise, some portions of the trail were not paved.

For her efforts, she is recognized as one of the “Trailblazers,” individuals whose efforts led to the creation of the 22-mile trail that runs from Frankfort through Elberta and Beulah to Thompsonville. It also stands as the first such partnership between a county and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

Working for a Better World

Marian’s dedication to the outdoors was matched by her desire for peace, having served as a U.S. Marine during World War II. “She was her own person always,” says Jack.

“She was a Marine stationed stateside working on planes,” Jack explains. Rather than go to officer school, Marian opted for mechanics, attending Aviation Machinist School and working on airplane engines. By her own admission a proud grease monkey, she served in the military from 1943 to 1946. “She was a real Rosie the Riveter,” Jack notes.

Marian was not a contrarian, but she would champion her beliefs despite what anyone else might think. She saw herself as a patriot, which meant supporting her country when appropriate and protesting when she disagreed. Fast-forward some 25 years from then and she and her husband, John, were at the forefront of the protests against the Vietnam war.

Marian and John met in Switzerland when she studied abroad for a year on the G.I. Bill following the end of WWII. John had been a teenage prisoner of war due to his family’s Resistance activities in the Netherlands. The two fell in love and got married, eventually returning to the states and settling in Brighton. They had six sons: Kim, Jack, Duff, Kaj, Walt, and Drew.

At the height of the Vietnam War, the two traveled to Washington D.C. to protest. “I went to Washington with both of them and picketed in 1968,” says Kim.

Dismayed by the ongoing conflict, Marian and John moved to Canada, where they lived for more than a year. “I can remember we spent my 11th grade year in Alberta,” Kim says. “It was on the western border of the Canadian Rockies.” (No surprise, Marian made sure the family trekked up and down the mountainsides.)

After returning to Ann Arbor, Marian found a church that appealed to her: The Society of Friends, better known as the Quakers. The denomination’s belief in pacifism and living simply reflected her own beliefs. She carried those values with her throughout the rest of her life.

Leaving an Impression

Today, Marian’s family is spread far and wide. Jack and his wife Maggie Sprattmoran live in Empire. Kim now resides in Traverse City after spending many years in Europe. Duff has lived in France for more than 30 years, while Kaj is a resident of Nelson, British Columbia. Sons Walt and Drew predeceased Marian, as did her ex-husband John. Even though they had divorced years prior, when John was taken ill, she traveled to Switzerland to care for him. She lived in Switzerland for two years, returning to the area after John died.

She wouldn’t take any guff, says Schneider, “but she was not mean-spirited. She was a measured person and was very charismatic.”

“She was an inspiration to me,” says Kim simply.

Jack concurs. “The first thing that comes to mind is a lot of energy,” he says.

Sarah Jane Johnson is another longtime friend of the family. “She and my mother were best of friends,” Johnson says. “They were both veterans—classic Greatest Generation. My mom was the librarian in Benzonia and Marian volunteered there.

“She was a pretty unique woman, a true eclectic,” she continues, noting that Marian was “pretty darn liberal” but still open-minded. “She had strong opinions and was not shy about expressing [them].”

Jack’s wife Maggie Sprattmoran says Marian believed in putting her energy, finances, and life force into things she believed in. She didn’t have a lot of time for those things she found unnecessary or superfluous. “I cleaned out her apartment when she died,” says Sprattmoran. Among her possessions: A change of sheets, a towel cut in half, one pair of shoes, three pairs of socks, two pairs of pants, three shirts, a table, chair, and bed, and a piano.

Though Marian was minimalist in the way she lived, Sprattmoran says she was quite the opposite in the way she loved. “I think I felt more loved by her than I ever had in my life,” she says.

Today Marian is honored in various ways, including a sign on the Betsie Valley Trail noting her contributions (as well as those of Mark Mandenberg, another person instrumental in creating the trail). “She was a well-respected, important figure in this community,” says Schneider.

Beyond that, she was a citizen of the world who passed on her enthusiasm for life to her family and friends.

“We look at life as offering some challenges, and you can either overcome them or play it safe,” says Kim. There’s no doubt which way Marian Gyr chose to live her life.