Marilyn Marge Rozek

MARILYN MARGE ROZEK

Tucson, Ariz.

Marilyn Marge Rozek, 91, of Tucson, Ariz., formerly of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, passed away on Thursday, March 21, 2019. A graveside service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, April 19 at Cedar Memorial Cemetery in Cedar Rapids with a reception for friends and family to follow.

She was born on Feb. 8, 1928, to parents, Frank and Margaret Anderle in Lincoln, Neb. Marilyn graduated from Franklin High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and attended Clarke College in Dubuque, Iowa. She married the love of her life, Wayne E. Harger, on July 22, 1949. She and Wayne had three children, Tad Harger, Margaret Harger and Christopher Harger. She was widowed in 1969 when Wayne died of leukemia. In June of 1974, Marilyn married Richard Rozek, to whom she remained happily married until his death in September of 2001.

Marilyn will be remembered as a great friend, a lover of nature, and one who found solace and beauty in the natural world. She appreciated a devoted dog, had a life-long love of horses and an unwavering sense of wonder about the birds, insects and flowers that she encountered. Her children were raised with a menagerie of animals and spent their childhoods exploring the creeks and forests of the Midwest. Annual weeklong retreats with family friends to Backbone State Park gave Marilyn time to bond with her dear friends Topsy and Mary, while the kids fished and ran about in the woods. Throughout her adult life, Marilyn spent many a weekend walking the forests of Iowa and Minnesota with her husband, Dick, and friends in pursuit of morels.

In the 1990s, Marilyn and Dick moved to La Quinta, Calif., where they enjoyed the tranquility of desert life and perfected their golf game. Marilyn moved to Tucson in 2003 and spent the final phase of her life in proximity to her daughter and grandchildren. An Iowa Hawkeyes fan to the end, she was looking forward to watching the Hawkeyes in the first round of the NCAA tournament. She was a kind, generous and supportive wife, mother, stepmother and grandmother. Her smile, the twinkle in her eye and her wit will be greatly missed and her love long treasured.

She is survived by her three children, Tad Harger of Hailey, Idaho, Margaret Wilch of Tucson Ariz., and Christopher Harger of Chandler, Ariz.; three grandchildren, Esther Wilch of San Francisco, Clara Wilch of Los Angeles and Henry Wilch of Tucson Ariz.; seven stepchildren, Cindy O'Toole of Cedar Rapids, Gary Rozek (Cathy) of Cedar Rapids, Michael Rozek (Patti) of Breckinridge, Colo., Diane Flynn (Dennis) of Cedar Rapids, Barbara Mahring (Chris) of Overland Park, Kan., Julie Styve (Brad) of Erie, Colo., and Lisa Hingst (Jason) of Cedar Rapids; 16 step-grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

She is preceded in death by her parents; her sister, Jean Eleanor Hersey; and brother-in-law, Taylor Hersey; her first husband, Wayne Harger; and second husband, Richard Rozek.

Many thanks to the excellent caregivers at Hacienda De Luna and Agape Hospice.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations in Marilyn's name to Habitat for Humanity or Cedar Valley Humane Society.