A funeral service for Marilyn Claussen, age 88, of Spirit Lake, will be Tuesday, July 16, 2024, at 10:30am, at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Spirit Lake. A visitation for Marilyn will begin one hour prior to the service at the church. Burial will be at Rippey Cemetery in Rippey, Iowa, on Tuesday, July 16th, at 3:30pm. Memorials in honor of Marilyn can be made to the Immanuel Lutheran Church in Spirit Lake or to the family.
Marilyn passed away on July 11, 2024, at Lakes Regional Healthcare in Spirit Lake, Iowa. She was born on August 17, 1935, at St. Anthony’s Hospital in Carroll, Iowa. She was the oldest of two children born to Grover and Dorothy Swanson Weaver. She was baptized May 5, 1937, at the United Brethren Church at Carrollton. As a child, she attended country school at Carrollton country school in Carrollton, Iowa, with one year at Glidden Consolidated.
At the age of 13, the family moved to Rippey, Iowa, where she lived for five years. After graduating from High School she worked in Des Moines, Iowa, for Northwestern Bell Telephone for two years and Standard Oil of Indiana for five years. She became a member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Des Moines in December, 1960. Marilyn and Ronald Claussen were united in marriage on July 22, 1961, at the Trinity Lutheran Church in Perry, Iowa. They made their home in Spirit Lake, Iowa, for 63 years. Her husband, Ronald, passed away in 2018 and she moved to Wel-Life Assisted Living and then to Accura Nursing Home.
In 1961, she began working for Berkley and Company and retired after 32 years. She spent her retirement years crocheting, piecing quilts for family and friends, and The Quilts of Valor Foundation. She used her sewing skills to make doll clothes for her great nieces and bags for Doctors Without Borders. She also did genealogy for both her family and her husband’s. Marilyn’s lineage goes back to Sarah Wilcoxsen, sister to Daniel Boone.
She was a member of the Immanuel Lutheran Church, Milford American Legion Auxiliary, Spirit Lake VFW Auxiliary, Daughters of the American Revolution and Quilting Club of Spirit Lake.
She was preceded in death by her husband Ronald, brother Russell, parents, and grandparents. She is survived by her sister-in-law, Jean Weaver; niece, Linda Weaver Goodrich (William); and great-nieces, Alicia Goodrich Millon (Caleb), Sarah Goodrich, Anna Goodrich and great-nephew Liam Goodrich, all of Omaha, Nebraska and several cousins.
Turner Jenness Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
