Bessie Marcelyn JOHNSON

HURD, JOHNSON, HOOVER, AXTELL, GOBELI, FRIAR, STEWART, LEE, KNODE

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 9/13/2008 at 14:12:50

September 10, 2003

February 20, 1923 -- September 5, 2003

ELDORA - Marcelyn Johnson 80, of Eldora died Friday, Sept. 5, 2003, at Eldora Nursing and Rehab Center in Eldora. Funeral services were Monday, Sept. 8, at the Linn's Funeral Homes Iowa Falls Chapel. Memorials may be directed to Bethel Baptist Church or First Christian Church in Iowa Falls.

Bessie Marcelyn was born Feb. 20, 1923, on a farm north of Homer in Webster County to Harold and Bessie (Hoover) Johnson. She never married. After the death of her father, Marcelyn and her mother moved to Williams, where she was educated by a tutor. They made their home with Howard H. Hurd and his five children, assisting in their care following the death of his wife. The Hurd children ranged in ages from four to 11 years, and Marcelyn being eight at the time, enjoyed a special relationship.

On Jan. 16, 1946, Marcelyn's mother was united in marriage to Alfred Axtell, allowing her to become a member of another family. Following the death of her stepfather, Marcelyn and her mother became residents of Eldora Manor Care Center, where she had lived since Jan. 20, 1979. Survivors include three foster sisters, Wilma Gobeli and family of Meservey, LaVonne Friar and family of Sun City West, Ariz., and Charlotte Stewart and family of Toledo; her stepbrother and stepsister, Harry Axtell and his wife, Barbara, and family, and Mabel Lee and husband Lloyd and family all of Iowa Falls. She was preceded in death by her parents, her stepfather; her foster father; one foster sister, Shirley Knode; and a foster brother, Dale Hurd.