Funeral services for 87-year-old Marilyn “Snookie” Sawatzky of Darfur, Minnesota, will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Monday afternoon, December 7, 2015, at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Darfur. The church is located at 209 2nd Street.
Interment will be in the church cemetery located in rural Butterfield, Minnesota on Highway #30.
Visitation will be at the church the day of the funeral service from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Sturm Funeral Home is handling the funeral arrangements.
Marilyn Jeanette “Snookie” Sawatzky was born September 27, 1928, the daughter of Thomas and Helen (Elg) Kelley in Mountain Lake, Minnesota. She was a graduate of Comfrey High School in Comfrey, Minnesota. As a young woman, Marilyn worked as a waitress at Kelley’s Cafe, which was owned by her family.
On May 26, 1951, she was united in marriage to Harvey Sawatzky at Faith Lutheran Church in Comfrey. Following marriage, she worked alongside her husband at Sawatzky Livestock and also enjoyed being a homemaker and mother of their two children, Tim and Lisa. The couple were also janitors for many years at Bethlehem Lutheran Church of Darfur, where they were members.
Snookie enjoyed fishing, time spent at Lake Osakis and Nest Lake and time with her family. She was a member of the Darfur Garden Gate Club, and involved in WELCA (Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America), as an alto in the ladies trio and as the Financial Secretary at Bethlehem Lutheran.
Snookie is survived by her children, Tim (Nancy) Sawatzky of Pennock, Minnesota and Lisa (John) Schumann of Darfur; granddaughter, Stacy Olson (special friend Steve Hall) of Sedan, Minnesota; grandson, Brent (Alicia) Sawatzky and sons Lance and Carson of Pennock; grandson, David Schumann (fiancée Hallie Jenkins) of Eagan, Minnesota; granddaughter, Mariah Schumann (fiancé John Minessali, Jr.) of St. James, Minnesota; granddaughter, Emily (Jason) Leigh and son Myles of Alexandria, Minnesota; granddaughter, Samantha Jeanotte of Pennock and sister-in-law, Donna (Vern) Rich of Arizona.
Marilyn was preceded in death by her parents and husband, Harvey, in 2005.