Marlene D. Lockwood

Marlene Dee Lockwood, 69, of Clarion passed away Thursday, April 22, 2010 at Wright Medical Center in Clarion, surrounded by the presence of her family.  

Funeral services will be held Tuesday, April 27, 2010 at 10:30 a.m. at the Church of Christ in Clarion, Iowa with Pastor Warren Curry officiating. Burial will take place at Evergreen Cemetery in Clarion.

Visitation will be held on Monday, April 26, 2010 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Ewing Funeral Home, 602 North Main Street in Clarion and will continue one hour prior to the service at the church. 

Marlene Dee (Witherell) Lockwood was born September 4, 1940, in Clarion, Iowa, to Edwin M. and Olive B. (White) Witherell.  She grew up in and attended school in Clarion, graduating from high school in 1959.  At the age of five, her father passed away.  Marlene continued to live with her mother through the years, as a devoted daughter until her mother passed away.

Marlene worked for an insurance company for a short while in Belmond.  Then, she began employment at the nursing home in Clarion as a caring, compassionate nurse aide for 39 years.  She retired in 2005.

On October 25, 1974, Marlene married John L. Lockwood at the Church of Christ in Clarion.  They made their home at Lake Cornelia.  She continued to live there after John died in 1992.  She and John enjoyed dancing, riding their motorcycles with friends, spending time with family, and they belonged to a Buckskinner’s group in which they were truly in their element as they traveled to local, state, and national rendezvous events within the U.S.  In the years following John’s death, Marlene has enjoyed the friendship bonds that have stayed intact.

The past few years Marlene has had fun as a member of a Red Hat Ladies group of Lake Cornelia, as she participated in the many activities.  Marlene also treasured the friendship of an “elite” group of gals whom called themselves “the Golden Girls.”  A bond cultivated through the years of working together at the Clarion Care Center, these gals continued to meet regularly for dinner and stayed in contact by phone.

Marlene touched the lives of friends and family with her sense of humor, her strength and courage- “she had spunk!”

She will be missed by her fellow dialysis mates whom traveled to Mason City three days a week for treatment, as well as the group of volunteer “angels” whom helped her with transportation three days per week to either meet “the bus” at Goodell, or travel to Mason City.

Marlene was a faithful member of the Church of Christ in Clarion.  She was always at service in whatever capacity she was able.

Although Marlene did not experience motherhood bearing biological children, when she married John she inherited two sons and one daughter, and a few grandchildren.  Through the years this family grew to include the joy of ten grandchildren and twenty one precious great-grandchildren.

Marlene is survived by a close cousin, Audri Adams of Chicago, Illinois; two stepsons, Jerry R. (Arlene) Lockwood, of Clarion, and Jan L. (Julie) Lockwood of Phoenix, Arizona; and one stepdaughter, Jeanne Gutknecht of Reinbeck, Iowa.

Marlene is preceded in death by her parents, her husband John (April 25, 1992), Aunt Mona, a stepson Jeffrey L. Lockwood, and a daughter-in-law, Angela Lockwood.