Marvel L. Brenden

Marvel L. Brenden, 98, of Whiting, Iowa passed away Saturday, April 29, 2023 at Pleasant View Care Center, Whiting, Iowa.

A funeral service will be 10:30 A.M. Saturday, May 6, 2023 at the First Congregational Church U.C.C., Whiting, Iowa with Pastor Jessie Lent, officiating. A live stream of the service will be posted on the Goslar Funeral Home website with Marvel’s obituary. Burial will follow in the Whiting City Cemetery, Whiting, Iowa. Arrangements are under the direction of Goslar Funeral Home and Monuments, Onawa, Iowa.

Marvel was born April 13, 1925 in rural Whiting, Iowa the daughter of Bert and Esther (Johnson) Harding. She attended and graduated from Whiting Consolidated School and furthered her education at Morningside College, Sioux City, Iowa.

Marvel married Albert Maurice Brenden on January 21, 1946 at the First Congregational Church in Sioux City following his discharge from the United States Marine Corps. The couple moved to his father’s farm north of Whiting where they continued to farm there until moving into Whiting in 1979. Maurice was the victim of a fatal farm accident on November 23, 2001.

Marvel’s talents and interests covered a broad range of creativity, among them being participation in the farm operation, knitting, crocheting, tatting, landscape and tole painting, gardening, canning, sports, square dancing, and reading. She was an animal lover, never being without a bird, dog, and a horse to ride until she was 80. Marvel was an Avid sports fan watching Iowa Hawkeye football and basketball games, the Chicago Bulls and the Chicago Cubs. In the early years of her married life she was a very avid bowler and bowled on the Whiting Co-op Team. Marvel was a soft-spoken person, quiet, and a true friend to those who really knew her.

Marvel recognized a need for young rural mothers, and with the aid of another young mother, organized the Rural Mothers Club and became its first president. She was a long-time member of the Whiting Public Library Board of Trustees and served as its secretary for nearly twenty years. Marvel was a member for over eighty-five years of the Congregational Church in Whiting and served through the years in various capacities. She was an active member and past Regent of the Onawa Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, was a past Matron of the Whiting Chapter of the Eastern Star and later affiliated with the Queen Esther Chapter where she was awarded a fifty year certificate in 2008.

She had been an active member since 1949 of the Emery – Johnson Unit #481, American Legion Auxiliary and had served in various offices and chairmanships in the local unit and was a past President of the Monona County A.L.A.A. Through the years of her busy life, her main center and paramount to her was her church and her family.

Survivors include her two sons, Michael (Suzanne) Brenden of Whiting, Iowa and Richard (Susan) Brenden of Sloan, Iowa; five grandchildren, Christine Brenden of Sioux City, Iowa, Jason Brenden of Elk Point, South Dakota, Jillian Brenden of Mount Vernon, Washington, Luke Brenden of Sioux City, Iowa, and Cole Brenden of Greenfield, Iowa; three great-grandchildren, Kayla Brenden, Kiandra Brenden, and Justin Goodvin; and many nieces, nephews, cousins, other relatives and friends.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Albert Maurice Brenden, parents, Bert and Esther (Johnson) Harding, parents-in-law, Albert and Ina (Parker) Brenden; sister, Cleta (Jewell) Waugh; sister-in-law, Elaine (Cal) Linscott; grandchildren, Tracy Brenden, Sarah Brenden, Michael Bert Brenden; and great-grandchild, Garret Goodvin.

Condolences may be left online for the family at www.goslarfuneralhome.com

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