Gay Leone (Rowe) Marlenee

Gay Leone Marlenee, 98 of Stanton, ND passed away at Elm Crest Manor in New Salem ND on November 15, 2024 where she had lived since 2017. Services will be held at 10:00 AM CST on Tuesday, November 19, 2024 at at Our Saviors Lutheran Church in Stanton with Pastor Dennis Ristvedt officiating.  Burial will be at Stanton City Cemetery.

Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service at the church.

Gay was born on October 4, 1926 on her Grandparents farm near Stanton, North Dakota to Leo Rowe and Mable (Fahlsing) Rowe.  She was baptized on November 14, 1926 at the Cambridge School House near Stanton.  While her father was stationed in the Philippines, Gay and her mother stayed with her Grandparents Herman and Edna Fahlsing on their farm south of the present day Cross Roads west of Stanton.  One of her favorite memories was of “Peterson Hill” which was south of the junction of highway 200 and 31.  Gay would sit on the edge of the seat with great anticipation because when they took the car down the hill, Grandpa would turn the key off (to save gas), and when they got to the bottom, she got to turn the key on and the car would start with a backfire.  She said that Grandpa & Grandma Fahlsing made her feel so special.

When Leo returned from the service, they moved to a farm near Harlow, ND where she in school and worked the first of her many jobs.  She told of how she got paid to take home-churned butter to town to sell, washed dishes for the nearby Hoff family and helped care for the children of Nels and Leona (Marlenee) Lund, who lived nearby.  This is where she first met Melvin who lived near the town of Baker, ND.  She went on to work at a café in Minneapolis, a GE factory in Ft. Wayne, IN and the Tom Houston Peanut Co. in Ft. Benning, GA.   Melvin and Gay married on August 29, 1944 in Phenix City, AL. They lived at Ft. Benning GA, Salmon ID and Pick City, ND before settling north of Stanton on the Missouri River in 1949 where they lived until 1979 when Melvin passed.   For several years she was known as “The Strawberry Lady” due to the large patch of strawberries she grew and sold.   She also did milk fat testing for several local dairy farmers and belonged to the local Home Makers group, which Dad referred to as “Home Wreckers”.   In 1981 Gay moved into Stanton, obtained her GED and continued to hold various jobs such as crop surveyor, waitress, charitable gaming, census surveying, Mercer Co. Deputy Recorder, assisting the Clerk of Court, Court Bailiff and City Assessor.  At one time (around age 80) she informed us that she was juggling five different jobs!   Gay was also involved in several civic groups as well as groups at Our Saviors Lutheran Church – including quilting and WELCA.  She took several convention trips with the WELCA group and enjoyed them very much.  The friendships she made through those activities were very special to her.  Gay was independent, curious, witty and crafty with many talents and interests. Crossword puzzles, crafts and trivia were a source of joy for her until the last month of her life.

Throughout all of these years of working and volunteering, Gay’s biggest source of pride was her family.  She is survived by her four children: Karen (friend Jim) Miller, William (Deb) Marlenee, Grant (Peggy) Marlenee, Phyllis (Keith) Grosz.  Eight Grandchildren and their families which include 12 Great Grandchildren, six Great-Great-Grandchildren and one Great-Great-Great-Grandchild:  Melanie (Mark) Johnson, Tim (Val) Johnson, Zander, Zoe and Cade,  Zia and Tessa, Megan (Jeff) Hust, Hunter and Haley, Leslie Miller, Bransen and Jaxen; Kari (Shawn) Halvorson, Delaney and Laikyn,  Dustin Torgerson and Bella, Denise (Dane) Peters and Austin;  Alyssa (Kory) Marlenee- Jenkins,  Brandon (Nicole) Grosz, Madison and Logan;  Brooke (Jared) Borlaug, Bria and Beckett.  When Gay was 79 (NOT 80), she went parasailing while on vacation in Mexico with several of these family members.

She was preceded in death by:  her parents, husband, Grand Daughter Holly Beth Marlenee, son-in-law Gorden Miller, beloved Grandparents, Herman & Edna Fahlsing, and Elizabeth Shea, her siblings and spouses George and Barb Rowe, Glenys and Bud Mills, Melvin’s five siblings and their spouses, her special Aunts – Thelma Muri and Irma Poinsette, along with other friends and relatives. Oh, what a joyous reunion it must be!

In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, Stanton.

Arrangements conducted by Barbot Funeral Home, Beulah and Hazen.

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