Passing of an era: RIP Marlin

[Cheeseman]

So my good friend Marlin is the best. My 4Runner is a 1985 and I put his 4.70 t-case in it the first year of Cruise Moab 1998. Then I met him at the '99 CM and was quite proud that the first thing he did was crawl under the runner and identify my crawlbox as number 242. A couple years later I put in his middle box for dual t-cases and you guessed it next time I saw him under he goes to see it was number 568. Only Marlin would do that as you all know. Nobody else could "hold court" at an event like Marlin. I've been on many trails with him at Moab and also on the Rubicon as well. We all meet many people on our paths in life.......Thank you Marlin for being one of them.

 

[Rzeppa]

I just learned this today and am heartbroken. The Toyota 4x4 community has lost one of the greatest there ever was, and also one of the nicest people I've ever met. I first met him and Christine at the raffle and banquet at the Bar M circa CM 2001ish. He wasn't wheeling, but was blazing through on a cross country trip collecting T- cases to rebuild. Another time (CM 2013 I think it might have been?) he and BVB helped me when the crank nut came off the front of my 60. Thanks to him, BVB and Jeremiah Proffitt I was able to lead all my trails and made it home with no issues.

While a lot of people associate him with mini trucks and 4Runners, after hanging out with him many times, I discovered that he had forgotten more about Land Cruisers than most of us will ever know. RIP Marlin, and condolences to Christine and Mike.

 

[Dirt Claude]

New post from BigMike on Marlin Crawler board about Marlin's passing.

 

[maxpowerzz]

Sad news, echoing many comments here how he saved us with a quick fix on the side of the road at CM with crying kids in the backseat. Super amazing human being