Steven Clement Marsden

MARSDEN, ROSENBAUM, MILLER

Posted By: Sarah Fletcher (email)
Date: 10/23/2015 at 14:38:16

Steven Clement Marsden, 67, of Iowa City, beloved husband of Rebecca, died unexpectedly at home in his sleep October 20, 2015.

Funeral Services will be held Thursday at 3:00 pm at Lensing Funeral Service in Iowa City.
Burial will follow at Agudas Achim Cemetery in Iowa City, followed by a meal of condolence at the synagogue.

The family requests, in accordance with religious beliefs, no flowers or plants. Donations to charity are welcome.

Local peace activist and library worker Steven Clement Marsden was born Methodist, married a Jew and fully embraced the joy of a contemplative, value-driven life. “He was an unsung hero,” said Rebecca Rosenbaum, Steve’s wife and life companion of 35 years. “His many gifts were not always recognized because they were so abundant, and he was so humble.”

Born Nov. 25, 1947, in Boone, Iowa, to Clement and Ethel Marsden, Steve graduated from Eldora High School in 1966. After studying at New College in Sarasota, Fla., he completed a degree in Liberal Studies from the University of Iowa. Steve moved to Iowa City in 1983 for a “temporary” part-time job in the Iowa City Public Library that he held for the next 32 years. In addition to serving the public at the library, he spent more than 20 years helping serve the poor in the Free Lunch Program. Steve worked for social charge all his life.

Steve and Rebecca met in 1979, during an anti-nuclear walk from Cedar Rapids to Palo. “He had a beautiful voice,” Rebecca said. “And his favorite kind of singing was the kind where he encouraged people to join him. That’s what he was doing when I met him. Leading songs outside the gates of Palo.” Their relationship blossomed after spending a day together at a demonstration outside the Pentagon in April 1980. Steve was a convicted felon for refusing to report for induction into the armed forces. He served nine months in federal penitentiary rather than kill people in Vietnam.

Over the next four decades, he was a mentor to many in the peace movement. His other passions included genealogy, philosophy, nature, family and friends. Steve spent most of the last weeks of his life with Rebecca in Florida caring for his mother-in-law.

In addition to his wife, Steve is survived by his mother Ethel (Miller) Marsden and his sister Jean Marie Marsden, both of Ames; his brothers Paul (Cherry) Marsden of Ankeny and Hugh (Sheri) Marsden of Ames; and many nieces, nephews and cousins who love him dearly.

Steve’s burial will be the first in the interfaith section of the Agudas Achim Cemetery. Jewish mourning customs will be observed.

Lensing Funeral & Cremation Service
 

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