Marlene V. Weigel

Marlene V. Weigel, age 85, of New Hampton, Iowa died Friday, August 7, 2020, surrounded by her family. She passed away at her daughter’s home in rural New Hampton. Due to the current Covid-19 pandemic, there will be no public visitation, a private family Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Wednesday at Holy Family Parish, New Hampton with Rev. Brian Dellaert celebrating the Mass. Interment will be in Calvary Cemetery New Hampton. Please join the family live 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, August 12, 2020, on the Hugeback-Johnson Funeral Home Facebook page. If so desired, memorials may be given to St. Joseph School or St. Croix Hospice. Marlene V. Weigel was born on Jan. 31, 1935, to Vincent and Ida (Schueller) Laures on a farm near North Washington. She was the fourth of the couple’s nine children and grew up on the farm, often helping her mother with the “inside” jobs on the farm. She attended Immaculate Conception Catholic School in North Washington, where she was a straight-A student and a member of the Class of 1953. She loved math and valued education, and even though she wasn’t able to go to college, it was her dream that her children would. She met William Weigel one night at a wedding dance in Alta Vista, and it was a match only God could make. The two danced as one that night, and they began a courtship that ended on a Thursday morning in 1954. "Willie" came home on leave from the U.S. Navy, and he and Marlene said their vows on Dec. 30, 1954, at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church. It was the beginning of a loving, caring marriage that lasted for more than 62 years and produced eight children, 20 grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren with two more on the way, and a lifetime of memories and service to both her family and her community. Marlene and Bill lived in San Diego, California, until his discharge from the Navy and then moved back to Iowa, where they began raising a family that grew to include Keith, Wesley, Rick, Bruce, Joe, Luann, Mary and Connie. In 1961, they moved into New Hampton, and her children remember growing up in a home with a loving, supportive mother who would do anything for her kids. Her children recall walking into the house filled with the palatable smells of good food, baked bread and cinnamon rolls. When Connie entered kindergarten, Marlene took a job as a receptionist with the New Hampton Family Clinic, a position she held for 28 years before retiring. Marlene and Bill never lost their love for dancing. They also enjoyed playing card games like Euchre, 500, Pinochle and Shanghai with their family and friends. Marlene was also a regular volunteer at the Knights of Columbus Bingo Nights. Her life centered around faith and family. She and her husband never missed their children’s sporting events. She was an active member of Holy Family Parish where she was active in both the Catholic Daughters of America and the Rosary Society. The Weigels lived just a block and a half from what was then St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, and there was no better day for Marlene than those in which she and her family made the walk to Mass. Marlene sparkled as a grandmother! Her grandchildren, and greats, as well, loved her with all of their hearts. The joke among her children was that “there was never any candy when we were growing up but she found it when she had grandchildren.” Marlene was an active member of the American Legion Auxiliary. Bill and Marlene loved to attend U.S. Navy ship reunions throughout the United States. They loved helping their kids and grandchildren with projects around their homes. She was a “grandma” to many more kids than just her own, for after retiring from the clinic, she was a volunteer at Sunrise Preschool, continuing a lifelong dedication that both she and her husband had to St. Joseph Community School. In 2015, the Weigels moved to Kensington Place, and she was appreciative of the new friends she made and those who worked at the assisted living complex. She touched so many lives in her 85 years here that there is a sense of sadness among her family and friends, but they are comforted by the fact that she is now reunited with Bill, who passed away on New Year’s Day 2017. We know that she earned a “straight shot” to Heaven and that she and her husband are dancing together again. Marlene is survived by eight children, Keith (Wendy) of Minnetonka, MN; Wes (Terri) of Madison, WI; Rick (Luann) of Grinnell; Bruce (Callie) of Elma; Joe (Pat) of Clear Lake; Luann (Jeff) Woodward of Waterloo; Mary (Phil) Mahoney of New Hampton; and Connie (Dennis) Njus of New Hampton. Bill and Marlene were blessed with twenty grandchildren and twenty great-grandchildren. Survivors also include one brother, Cletus (Jeanne) Laures of Ionia; one sister, Diane (Dave) Brandt of Charles City. She was preceded in death by her parents, Vincent and Ida Laures; a step-mother, Ellen Laures; three sisters, Elaine Wedeking, Rita Burgart and Virginia Laures; three brothers, Dale Laures, Kenny Laures and Virgil Laures; sister-in-law, Kathleen Laures; brothers-in-law, Gerald Burgart and Roger Wedeking.