Marjorie Nora (Janson) HOLTZBAUER

JANSON, HOLTZBAUER, MEZESKE, STANTON, ENGE, LEFFINGWELL, KANE, MENZYK

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 7/14/2007 at 13:37:51

BELMOND - Marjorie Nora (Janson) Holtzbauer, 92, formerly of Belmond Community Apartments in Belmond, died Wednesday (June 14, 2007) peacefully at home in Sparta, Mich., from cancer. Her daughters, Tracy (Judy) Mezeske and Betty Stanton, were by her side.

She was born Marjorie Janson on April 28, 1915, to the late Hjalmar and Anna Enge Janson. A proud graduate of the class of 1932 of Clarion High School, she pursued her dream of becoming a teacher and taught at a country school in Kanawha until her marriage to John Holtzbauer in 1938. The newlyweds settled for a short time in Titonka, and then embarked on a grand adventure to San Diego, Calif., where she would live for more than 60 years. During World War II, she worked long hours at an aircraft factory to participate in the war effort. She later managed the customer service department for Sears, Roebuck and Co. After raising her family, she returned to the field of education and became an admissions counselor for the University of California. Although she spent most of her adult years in Southern California, she never forgot her Midwestern values. She spent many of her summer vacations on the family farm in Iowa visiting with friends and family. In 2005, Marjorie moved from San Diego, Calif., to Belmond, and renewed old acquaintances and made new friends. A true character with a quick wit and a sharp mind, Marjorie had a wide range of friends in her long life, and she's surely with many of them now at the great "card and bingo games" in the sky. Always ready for a party, her surprise 92nd birthday party on April 28, 2007, became a celebration of life when more than 37 relatives gathered at the Eagle Grove Country Club for an evening of dining and festivities. Celebrations continued after she moved to Michigan, where she enjoyed visits from her grandchildren, and their families, who traveled from as far away as Washington, Colorado and Oklahoma. Marjorie was a kind and gentle woman who took the time to listen to her friends and family with empathy, and never failed to offer a "sprinkling of wisdom" when it was requested.

She will be lovingly remembered by her daughters, Tracy (Judy) Mezeske, of Sparta, Mich., and Betty Stanton, of San Diego, Calif.; six grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren, and one great-great-granddaughter; brother, Edgar Janson, of Belmond; sister, Evelyn Leffingwell, of Chicago, Ill.; sister and her husband, Anna Elaine and Ritchie Kane, of Westgate, Iowa; sisters-in law, Helen Janson of Gravity, Iowa, and Harriet Janson, of Clear Lake; and best friends of many years, Delores Paplow and Irene Stanton, of San Diego, Calif., and Helen Perlock, of Bristol, Conn. She was preceded in death by her husband of 40 years, John; brothers, Tolford and Eldon; brothers and their wives, Kenneth and June Janson, Harley and Helen Janson, and Joel and Bernice Janson; sister-in-law, Grace Janson; brother-in-law, William Leffingwell; and John Menzyk, her loving friend and companion in her later years. Memorial services will be held at 4 p.m., Wednesday, July 18, at Trinity Lutheran Church, 303 Third Avenue N.E., Belmond, Iowa. It was Marjorie's wish to have her body cremated and have her ashes buried in Norway Township Cemetery. Memorial donations may be made to the Hospice of Wright County in Belmond.

Mason City Globe Gazette
7/13/2007