Marye RaVae (Champlin) MCKENNA

MCKENNA, CHAMPLIN, DEMPSEY, RATHKE, OSTERMAN, STRADER, CASLAVKA, FAGAN, KOHRING, STEEGE

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 2/17/2007 at 14:09:04

www.fratzkejensen.com

Marye McKenna, age 81, of Storm Lake, Iowa died on Monday, February 23, 2004 at the Buena Vista Regional Medical Center in Storm Lake. Funeral Mass will be held on Friday, February 27, 2004 at 10:30 a.m. at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Storm Lake, with Reverend Bruce Lawler, Reverend Timothy Schott, Reverend Claire Boes and Reverend Jim Smith as concelebrants. Burial will be in St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery in Storm Lake. The Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Storm Lake is in charge of the arrangements. Friends may call after 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, February 26, 2004 at the Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Storm Lake, where the family will be present. Legion of Mary Rosary will be recited at 3:30 p.m. and a parish vigil service will be held at 7:00 p.m. at the funeral home.

Marye RaVae Champlin was born on July 27, 1922 in Belmond, Iowa to Marvin L. and Eva A. (Dempsey) Champlin. She spent her childhood in her parents’ home in Vincent, Iowa, attending grade school there, then graduating with Eagle Grove’s High School Class of 1940. Marye went on to graduate as a Registered Nurse from Mercy Hospital School of Nursing in Fort Dodge, Iowa in 1943. Marye was proud of that accomplishment and for the rest of her life, she found it very meaningful to be a Mercy Nurse. While still in nurse’s training, Marye met a young county agent named James F. McKenna in Fort Dodge. Jim enlisted in the Navy cadet program and Marye in the Navy Nurse Corps to serve their country during World War II. The couple didn’t have a long time to get to know each other before Jim was given orders and had to leave. Jim was trained to fly in the Navy, then commissioned and sent to the Marines. He was a pilot during the war, while Marye served in a 42-bed ward in the Naval Hospital at Santa Margarita Ranch near Oceanside, California, where she cared for the injured and saw the effects of the war up close. It wasn’t until the beginning of 1945 that Jim and Mayre were able to get together again. Marye was at Camp Pendleton in California when Jim returned. They were married at Our Lady of Victory Chapel at Camp Miramar in San Diego, California on February 4, 1945. Marye had to find someone to work for her in order to go to her own wedding. The ceremony that day may not have been ideal, but the marriage itself was strong. After being separated again briefly, Marye was discharged on May 11, 1945 with the rank of Ensign, and she then joined Jim who was then stationed in Virginia. While there are moments neither likes to recall from their war experiences, the memories are something Jim and Marye have held on to together for all these years. They celebrated 59 years of marriage earlier this month.

Jim and Marye were blessed with three sons and five daughters. Marye was a loving wife and devoted mother who found great joy in the years she spent as a stay-at-home mother making a warm and comfortable home for her family. Spending time with her husband and family would be a priority for Marye all the days of her life. She loved to cook for her family and her home was a welcoming place for friends and family alike. Marye was a faithful member of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Storm Lake where she served as organist and was a member of St. Mary’s Guild and Catholic Daughters of Americas. Marye also loved music—she had a special memory of her first piece of furniture, her upright piano. She had a strong desire to combine her faith and her music to help people. Marye was a kind and giving person who did volunteer work at Buena Vista Manor and volunteered her time to many community activities. She cared for the sick whenever she was needed. Her legacy of love and caring lives on in her children and grandchildren.

Left to cherish her memory are her husband, James F. McKenna of Storm Lake; her children: Rosemarye and husband John Rathke of Copperas Cove, TX, Michael and wife Christine McKenna of Blakesburg, IA, Kathy and husband Bruce Osterman of Sibley, IA, Kevin and wife Janet McKenna of Storm Lake, IA, Maureen and husband Brad Strader of Storm Lake, IA, Stephan McKenna of Storm Lake, IA, Teresa and husband Brian Caslavka of Muscatine, IA, and Melissa and husband Dennis Fagan of Cedar Rapids, IA; grandchildren: Anne Kohring, Matthew McKenna, Ryan McKenna, Mark McKenna, Patrick McKenna, Meghan Osterman, Timothy Osterman, Molly McKenna, James S. McKenna, Abby McKenna, Jason McKenna, Jessica McKenna Steege, Allison (Kate) McKenna, Scott Strader, Christopher Strader, Marye Caslavka, Zach Caslavka, Casey Fagan and Eileen Fagan; great-grandchildren: Kasey Kohring and Aidan McKenna; sisters-in-law: Margaret Champlin of Vincent, IA and Katherine Champlin of Barnum, IA; and many other extended family members and friends. Preceding Marye in death were her parents; two brothers: Robert Champlin and Charles Champlin; and one granddaughter, Jennifer Anne Marie Rathke.