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Photo of Marilyn Kay (Sturgeon) Hansen

Marilyn Kay (Sturgeon) Hansen

8/27/1943 - 6/13/2021


Obituary


Marilyn Sturgeon Hansen was called to her eternal home on June 13th.

Marilyn’s life will be celebrated with a time of visitation at the Dows Community Center on Saturday, June 19th at 1:00 PM, followed by a graveside service at Fairview Cemetery at 2:00 PM.   
Marilyn was born in Clarion, Iowa on August 27, 1943, and raised on a farm near Dows with siblings: Gloria, Sandra and Ron.  
As Juniors in High School, Gary Hansen asked Marilyn to be his date for the Valentine Dance, and they married three years later. While Gary attended Iowa State, Marilyn studied at the AIB Executive Business School. Their first adventure took them from the fields of Iowa to the highways of Chicago, where Marilyn worked as an Executive Secretary for various companies, her children’s Elementary School and over 15 years at Peace Community Church. Marilyn could organize anything and everything! They are the proud parents of two children, Greg (m. Annette) & Michelle (m. Rick); five grandchildren (Ryan, Aly, Tyler, Xander, and Dane) and three great-grandchildren (Finley, Maddox & Jack).  
Always a strong team, Marilyn and Gary took early retirement in 1998 and adventured on to Asheville, NC for 14 years. While in Ashville Marilyn served as a Secretary at Abernathy United Methodist Church, and then as a Chaplain at Mission Hospital. As many of you have experienced, Marilyn’s special brand of compassion was a comfort; and her “Caring Ministries” helped bring hope and healing to so many. Their next adventure brought them here to Wilmore in 2012.  
By 2015 Marilyn felt called to write her story – to encourage others who struggle. Through increasing tremors and Parkinson’s stiffness, she continued to write. Through 2 brain surgeries, physical therapy and painstakingly typing one letter at a time, she continued to write. Her book, Broken Unto Wholeness was published in 2019. Marilyn never let Parkinson’s define her. She always had time to listen, and never asked shallow, easy questions. Her greatest legacy is the spiritual children who will spend eternity worshiping the One to whom she committed her life.  
Marilyn is survived by her beloved husband Gary, daughter Michelle and husband Rick Callahan, son Greg and wife Annette, and five grandchildren: Ryan Callahan and wife Haley, Alyssa Callahan Burrell and husband Rob, Tyler Callahan, Xander and Dane Hansen, two sisters: Gloria and husband Denny Johanson, Sandra and husband Larry VanGerpen, brother Ron and wife Sandy, and countless sojourners along the Way to eternal life.
  Her sister Donna (1953), father Eugene (1993) and mother Mabel (2007) preceded her in death.