Marilou Hobolth McCully, 1928-2004

Marilou Hobolth was born on April 18, 1928, in Pontiac, Michigan. After graduating from Moody Bible Institute, she met Ed McCully, Jr. in December 1950, during a youth evangelism event at First Baptist Church in Pontiac. The two were married on June 29th, 1951. Committed to international missions, Ed and Marilou attended the School of Missionary Medicine at the Bible Institute of Los Angeles (BIOLA). In December 1952, they traveled with their infant son Steve to Ecuador through the Plymouth Brethren’s sending organization Christian Missions in Many Lands. They completed several months of language study in Quito before moving to Shandia and then to Arajuno to minister to the Quichua people. A talented pianist, Marilou incorporated music into her community and evangelistic outreach, composing short Christian songs in the Quichua language.

After Ed’s death, Marilou traveled to the United States for the birth of their third child, Matt, in February 1956. While in the U.S., she visited many churches and Christian groups to tell the story of “Operation Auca,” speaking more than 100 times. At the end of November 1956, Marilou returned to Ecuador to manage a school for missionary children in Quito. After Elisabeth Elliot and Rachel Saint joined the Waorani settlement at Tewæno, Marilou visited the group in February 1959.

In 1963, Marilou returned to the United States with her three sons, settling in Federal Way, Washington to be near her late husband’s family. She worked as a bookkeeper at Auburn General Hospital and then with private medical practice until her retirement in 1980. She was active in her church’s music ministry and directed music at the De Moines Gospel Chapel in Washington State. Marilou died in 2004 after a long battle with cancer.