Obit: Wachsmuth, Marilyn Hertha (1926 - 2018)

Transcriber: Robert Lipprandt
bob@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: Benham, Hardrath, Heavens, Schuette, Wachsmuth, Vito, Woik

----Source: The Tribune-Phonograph (Abbotsford, WI) 10/28/2018

Wachsmuth, Marilyn Hertha (Sommer) (8 SEP 1926 - 22 OCT 2018)

Marilyn Hertha (Sommer) Wachsmuth went to be with her Lord on Monday, Oct. 22, 2018, at the age of 92 in Niceville, Fla.

Marilyn was born on Sept. 8, 1926, to Theodore and Hertha (Woik) Sommer, dairy farmers in Atwood. After losing her mother to breast cancer at age 15, Marilyn ran the farmhouse by night while attending high school by day where she particularly enjoyed poetry. After briefly working in a bottle cap factory in Chicago during WWII, she met Leonard Wachsmuth on his first day home from the war while still in his sailor’s uniform when she went into his parents’ general store to buy a loaf of bread. After Leonard proposed in the choir loft of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Atwood on Christmas Eve, they married on Sept. 20, 1947, and spent the first years of their married life in Wausau, where Marilyn was a homemaker and award-winning cultivator of gladiolas at the county fair. In 1964 they moved first to Peoria then Arlington Heights, Ill., where they spent almost 40 years before moving to Grayslake in 2003.

Marilyn was a dedicated servant of Christ and devout Lutheran all her life. She served on Altar Guild, prayer ministry and gardened regularly in church gardens. Marilyn was always willing to help others whatever their need. She was petite, energetic, vivacious and possessed outstanding fashion sense even into her 90s. Yellow was her favorite color and she wore it often! She loved to take walks and spend time in her flower garden. Her gift of hospitality was demonstrated most vividly through the sending of handmade cards with photos of her garden, the baking of countless cookies and the making of hundreds of stuffed animals for children at Condell Hospital in Grayslake. She loved to bake and decorate for every season. Marilyn didn’t know a stranger! She befriended everyone she met.

She is survived by her husband of 71 years, Leonard; children, Beth (John) Benham of Cincinnati, Ohio, Robert (Virginia) Wachsmuth of Hanover Park and Jay (Melissa) Wachsmuth of Niceville, Fla.; grandchildren, Jennifer (Benham) Vito of Hoffman Estates, John Benham of Cincinnati, Amanda (Wachsmuth) Heavens of London, United Kingdom, Josh Benham of Cincinnati and Richard Wachsmuth of Schaumburg; and great-grandchildren, Alex Vito, Andy Vito, John Benham, Molly Benham, Jaxson Benham, Aria Marilyn Heavens and Aragorn Heavens. She will be greatly missed by all her family.

Marilyn is reunited in heaven with her parents and her five brothers and sisters, Donald Sommer, Ruth Schuette, Eileen Hardrath, Vernon Sommer and her twin brother, Marlyn Sommer.

A memorial service will be held at Lord of Glory Lutheran Church, 607 W. Belvidere Road, Grayslake, IL 60030 on Saturday, Dec. 15, 2018, at 11 a.m., with luncheon to follow at the church.

Memorials may be directed to Lord of Glory Lutheran Church (Comfort Dog Fund).