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Oct. 30, 1936 – Aug. 04, 2023

NATCHEZ – Marlin Blyn MacLaughlin, who also used the name Marlin Vance MacLaughlin, Jr. for a time, passed on to be with his Lord on Friday, Aug. 4, 2023. He was 86 years old.

Marlin was born on Oct. 30, 1936, in Kensington, CT to Marlin Vance MacLaughlin and Helen Wooster MacLaughlin. He grew up in Connecticut and spent summers in Maine with his grandparents. After high school, he attended Rutgers University where he graduated in 1958 with a degree in history. He worked for several years for insurance companies in Louisiana and Alabama. In 1968 he graduated from Jones Law School in Montgomery, AL. He served as an attorney in Montgomery, AL, and Jasper, AL, and was later appointed as Chief Administrative Law Judge overseeing the Alabama Surface Mining Commission.

Marlin was a man of many interests. He co-founded the New Haven Railroad Historical and Technical Association (NHRHTA), a non-profit group dedicated to the preservation of the history of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad Company. His fascination with trains also extended to steam engines, where during the 1970s and 1980s he and his family would follow steam train excursions, filming the trains as they followed. In the latter part of this time period, he would ride in the engine acting as the fireman while his family followed along in their car filming. He also loved model trains, lighthouses, telephones, and clocks.

Marlin was a devout man of God. He served as an elder for many years in the First Presbyterian Church of Jasper, AL, and later served as lay leader of the Washington United Methodist Church in Washington, MS. He was a member of the Andrew Jackson Masonic Lodge #2 in Natchez, MS, where he served as Worshipful Master in 2014 and obtained the ranking of 32nd degree in both the York Rite and Scottish Rite. He was also a long-time member of the Alcazar Shrine in Montgomery, AL.

Marlin was preceded in death by his parents; his brother, Marlin Vance MacLaughlin, II, who died in infancy, and his daughter, Tonya Miller.

Survivors include his wife, Ginga Cobb MacLaughlin; his sister, Jane Doherty; four children, Marlin Vance MacLaughlin, III (Lee Anne), Cherie Wall (Clinton), Laurie Sanford (Lewis), and Blyn MacLaughlin (Jennifer); nine grandchildren, Kristin Blevins, Amanda Pritchard (Jamie), Jason Wall, Jessica Wall, Taylor Eads, Caroline Eads, Chris MacLaughlin, Kortney MacLaughlin, and Brody Wilkerson; four great-grandchildren, Evan Ware, Connor Blevins, Aydan Blevins, and Landon Pritchard; two step-children, Kris Blackwood and Joelle Cooper (Shayne); and two step-grandchildren, Anna Cooper and Evelyn Cooper.

A memorial service will be held Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023, at 2 p.m. at Washington United Methodist Church with Rev. Susan Hood officiating. Visitation will be from 1 p.m. until service time at the church.

Memorials can be made to the Washington United Methodist Church or the Shriners Children’s Hospital.

Online condolences may be sent to the family at lairdfh.com.