Marilyn Washington Kirby-Cooper, Newnan, died Aug. 13, 2009. She was born June 19, 1952 in South Carolina. She was preceded in death by her parents, David and Elease Branch Washington Sr., and her first husband, Mitchell Wayne Kirby, whom she married in 1978. Her family moved to Connecticut when she was young and she was graduated from Hillhouse High School, New Haven. She attended Simmons College, Boston, receiving a BS in Business Management and was selected to travel to Greece, Turkey, and Spain as an exchange student in her sophomore year. She had lived in New Jersey, and Arizona.

Services were at Holly Grove AME Church, Peachtree City with the Rev. Yvonne Whitman officiating. Interment was at Green Acres Memorial Garden, Scottsdale, Ariz. Survivors include her husband of 13 years, Clallie "Maurice" Cooper, Newnan; sons, Justin Kirby, Phoenix, and Ross Kirby, Tucson; two brothers; five sisters; one aunt; mother-in-law; four brothers-in-law; and three sisters-in-law. Roscoe Jenkins Funeral Home, Newnan, was in charge.