Mother

Shortly after midnight my Mother slipped away.   She had some struggles the past few days but had been peaceful for 2 days.  This picture was taken on her 88 birthday when my sister Beth and I celebrated with her in Tucson.  We will miss you, Mom.

Violet Klein was born to Fred and Ida Klein in Kenosha, Wisconsin on August 11,1922.   She passed away on May 15, 2013 at age 90.  She was the eighth child in the family of eleven children.  Klein's Bakery on 60th in Kenosha was where she spent many hours wrapping bread in the family business.  It was there she met her husband, Kurt Marquardt, who farmed with his father near Kenosha.  He came into the bakery and that's where the romance began.   They were married in 1943 and in 1946 they moved to St. Paul, Arkansas, to pastor a church and help in the beginning years of a Bible School in Ozark, Arkansas.  In 1956 they moved to Steamboat Rock, Iowa, where they had an 8 year ministry at First Baptist Church and then to Mason City, Iowa, at Grace Baptist Church until 1970.  They then began a ministry in Talahquah, OK, at Go Ye Mission.  After her husband's death she lived in Fayetteville, AR, Tucson, AZ, Schaumburg, IL, Grand Forks, ND, and Tucson, AZ, where she passed away.

Violet was preceded in death by her husband in 1984.  Surviving her are her eight children, Marilyn Luiken (Victor), Grand Forks, ND, Evelyn (Steve) Heard, Tucson, Az, Daniel (Linda), Spring Green, Wi, Stephen, West Fork, AR, Kenneth (Kali), Italy, Carolyn (Michael) Kilfoil, Miriam, Italy, Beth (Virgil), Mound, Ok.  Fourteen grand children and 18 great grandchildren, 3 step great grand children also survive.

Her life was spent caring for others as she raised her family and later as she worked in care centers for the elderly and others in their homes.   She loved to travel and seemed to set the pace for a family who loves to see the world.  She loved going to Europe to see her grandchildren and using her German she learned as a child.  Her trips were too numerous to count.  She was a thrifty gal and often became the brunt of many family jokes.  She was "green" before anyone thought of it.

A family memorial service is being planned.