Marilyn K. (Howard) SMIDT WHITE

WHITE, HOWARD, SMIDT, MCDONALD, HENGESTEG, JAYCOX, MILLER, SCHUELER, MICHEL

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 7/2/2016 at 21:17:58

January 3, 1942 ----- June 25, 2016

LAKE MILLS — Marilyn K. White, 74, of Lake Mills, Iowa, and formerly of Le Sueur, Minnesota, passed away Saturday, June 25, 2016, at Seasons Hospice House in Rochester, Minnesota. Funeral service will be 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, June 29, 2016, at Immanuel Lutheran church in Scarville, Iowa, with Pastor Randy Baldwin officiating. Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday evening at Mittelstadt Funeral Home, 902 E. Main St., Lake Mills, and again one hour prior to the service at the church. Burial will take place at Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery, Scarville, Iowa.

Marilyn was born on Jan. 3, 1942, to Ruby and Rueben Howard near Renwick, Iowa, and grew up in the Scarville and Lake Mills area. Marilyn married Russell Smidt in 1960 and lived near Silver Lake, Iowa, where they farmed and worked outside the home, raising three daughters Deb, Donna and Darla. In 1980, Marilyn married Richard White and gained two stepdaughters, Anna and Cecelia.

Marilyn not only worked on the farm, but also worked outside the home in various industries over the years, including Streaters Industries in Albert Lea, Minnesota, where she prided herself on being one of the first women to run a forklift in a union shop; and later at ADC Telecommunications in Le Sueur, Minnesota, until she retired.

Ever the entrepreneur, Marilyn was always thinking of additional ways to earn extra money for “fun” things for her family, like motorcycles or a piano or a camper or extra Christmas presents by making and selling lefse or crafts. She was always thinking of the next big idea.

Family was most important and Marilyn enjoyed gathering everyone at her home and spending time with them. She enjoyed making special memories with her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

A woman of many talents, Marilyn could whip up a multi-course meal in minutes and loved to feed the masses. She always tried to remember what was liked by everyone and would try to make their “favorites” at family gatherings.

She not only enjoyed cooking and baking, but also excelled in sewing, quilting, knitting, crocheting, and crafting. There were always numerous projects under construction, under her roof.

Marilyn is survived by her daughters Deb (John) McDonald of Duluth, Minnesota; Donna (Mike) Hengesteg, of Lake Mills, Iowa; Darla (Mike) Jaycox of Rochester, Minnesota; and stepdaughters Anna (Gary) Miller of St. Peter, Minnesota; and Cecelia (Dan) Schueler of Le Center, Minnesota; many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents; a sister, Marcia Michel; and her husband, Richard White.

Mason City Globe Gazette -- Iowa
June 28, 2016