Marion Leona Nielsen

ST. JOSEPH — Marion Leona Nielsen, 82, died Thursday, July 1, at her home in Lincoln Township. Memorial services will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Stevensville United Methodist Church. Funeral arrangements are being made by Starks & Menchinger Family Funeral Home, and there will be no visitation. Memorial donations may be made to Stevensville United Methodist Church. Marion was born June 16, 1922, in St. Joseph to Charles and Ella Zimmerle. She lived in the Twin Cities area most of her life. She married Julius Nielsen on Nov. 7, 1944. During World War II, she sewed parachutes in a factory in Detroit. Marion was retired from Heath/Zenith Corp., where she was an office supervisor. She enjoyed playing cards, spending time with her family and going out to lunch with her friends. As an eighth-grade student, she won the citywide spelling bee for the City of Detroit in 1935. Survivors include two sisters –Dorothy Turow, of West Branch, Mich., and Margaret Weber of Lapel, Ind.; five children — Carole (James) Mainwaring of Plano, Texas; Ronald (Viola) Nielsen, Stevensville; Larry (Mary) Nielsen, Benton Harbor; John (Ramona) Nielsen of Tampa, Fla.; Chris (Wendy) Nielsen, Stevensville; 14 grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Julius, who died in May 1995; and three brothers, William Zimmerle, Robert Zimmerle and Charles Zimmerle.