Marilyn Preheim Rose
ROSE, FIGURA, BIESER, WELSH, WILSON, HARRINGTON, SCHRAG
Posted By: Sarah Fletcher (email)
Date: 1/26/2024 at 13:08:02
Marilyn Preheim Rose passed away peacefully in her sleep at the age of 96.
A memorial service will be held on December 16, 2023, at 11:00 AM at First Mennonite Church in Iowa City. There will be a light luncheon at the church following the service.
She is survived by her five daughters, Elise (Mark Figura), Cecile (Richard Bieser), Karen (Robert Welsh), Miriam (Jay Wilson), Carol (Tom Harrington). She was predeceased by her husband of 61 years, Dr. Earl F. Rose; their son, the writer and musician Forrest Rose; and her sister, Irene Schrag.
Marilyn believed that education was a path to equality and empowerment, and she demonstrated this through her teaching, scholarship, parenting, and public service. In the days before she passed, Marilyn noted that the greatest change for good that she had witnessed in her lifetime was progress toward gender equality and the empowerment of women.
Marilyn was born to Adolph Preheim and Nettie Wittrig Preheim, and grew up during the Great Depression on a farm in Hurley, South Dakota. She was a member of the Salem Mennonite (South) Church and community, and later became a member of First Mennonite Church in Iowa City, IA. Marilyn attended a one-room country school until grade 8, and graduated from high school at age 16.
At a time when few women attended college, Marilyn decided early-on that education offered a path to equality and public service, and set off for Bethel College at the age of 17, earning a BS in chemistry and becoming the first in her family to graduate from a 4-year college.
In 1947, Marilyn traveled to the Netherlands on a post-war student exchange program at the University of Leiden. She later wrote that seeing the devastation and suffering wrought by war reinforced her lifelong pacifist beliefs.
Upon her return from Europe, Marilyn taught for a year at Freeman Junior College and completed her voluntary service at the State Mental Hospital in Skillman, New Jersey. Marilyn then went back to school, earning her MA in Biochemistry in 1948 and a Medical Technology Degree in 1949, becoming the first Med Tech at the University of South Dakota. Marilyn then worked as a Med Tech at Denver General Hospital and as a researcher at Colorado General Hospital working with polio patients.
In 1951, Marilyn married Earl Rose and together they raised six children, moving frequently in pursuit of further educational opportunities. She and her family lived at various times in Omaha, Nebraska; Lemmon, South Dakota; Denver, Colorado; St. Louis, Missouri; Richmond and Norfolk, Virginia; and Dallas, Texas, before finally putting down roots in Iowa City, Iowa in 1968.
In 1971, Marilyn again returned to education, obtaining both an MA and PhD in Anthropology from the University of Iowa in 1982. She taught the first course on Anthropology and Women’s Studies at the University of Iowa, and subsequently taught in both the Anthropology and Women’s Studies Departments at the University of Iowa, with a focus on women and aging in cross-cultural perspectives.
Upon retirement, Marilyn trained as a mediator in Johnson County Small Claims Court and became a successful mediator in the 6 th Judicial District’s Victim-Offender Reconciliation Program. She was a member of the Iowa City Foreign Relations Council since its founding, and served on the Board of Elders at First Mennonite Church. In 2017, Marilyn was awarded the Ovation Award by the Iowa Women’s Foundation.
In addition to her daughters, Marilyn is survived by her grandchildren: Jordan Rosefigura, Leon Rosefigura, Max Rosefigura, Rachel Rosefigura, Savannah Rose, Gideon Bieser, Brennan Rose, Maia Rosewelsh, Robin Rosewelsh, Jason Wilson, Noah Harrington, Adam Harrington, Lilian Harrington; and five great grandchildren: Naomi Greenrose, Miriam Greenrose, Isaac Greenrose, Vivienne Rosefigura, and Ruby Elise Rosefigura. She was deeply loved and will be missed by all of them, and by her wide circle of caring friends.
Lensing Funeral & Cremation Service
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