Marylea Schwenn Hall

Marylea Schwenn Hall, age 97, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, passed away February 15, 2020 at her home.

Marylea was born to Daniel Walter and Anna Pearl (Ayres) Green on April 17, 1922 in Kansas City, Missouri. She was raised first on a farm near to and then in Westboro, Missouri where she learned the importance of serving others through hard work and selflessness. Always the adventurer, she and her sister Betty Wilkinson as teenagers, took the family car without permission driving to and from the four-mile corner outside Westboro, Missouri.

Marylea attended college and began her teaching career in Minden, Iowa where she lived with the town marshal and his family. She met their son, Donald Glen Schwenn, when he came home from leave during World War II. Marylea fell madly in love with Don, married and gave birth to their first son while Don (Bud) was still overseas.

Marylea always a strong, independent women, and Don became tenant farmers for the next twenty years near Tarkio, Missouri. Having three children, Donald Glen Schwenn II, Edith Ann (Penny) Westfall and Daniel Walter Schwenn. Marylea was widowed when Don died suddenly from a heart attack at age 54, leaving two underage children. Marylea and the two children (10 and 15 years old) moved to Council Bluffs, Iowa to be near her sister-in-law, Margaret Evans.

Marylea searched for work, finding it difficult as a woman, finally accepting the position as night house mother for the Mercy School of Nursing. Marylea wanted more. At 44 years of age she went back to college, earning her bachelor’s degree and teaching certificate. She taught kindergarten and first grade for the next 28 years at Sunnydale and Hoover Schools in Council Bluff, Iowa. She gave tremendous love to each child she taught.

Once retired, Marylea volunteered at Jennie Edmundson Hospital and the Broadway United Methodist Church. She met and fell in love for the second time, marrying Rev. Max Hall when both were 80 years old. Marylea loved her new family that came along with Max. Rev. Max Hall passed from melanoma approximately five years after they married. Marylea continued to farm her dad and mom’s land in Missouri, serve at the church, travel and love all her family.

Marylea is survived by her three children and their living spouses, Don and Wilda Schwenn Branson, of West Missouri, Penny Westfall "widowed", of Van Meter, Iowa, and Dan and Stephanie Schwenn, of Loveland, Colorado; five grandchildren, Marc and Dolores Coble Schwenn, Ursula and Jason Hunter, Mathew Schwenn, Lauren and Paul Clark and Madeline and Dan Datema; and two great-grandchildren, Colton Schwenn and Chenoa Schwenn; and Rev. Max Hall’s family. She loved and is loved and remembered by those she guided and served throughout her journey.

Family visitation: Wed, Feb. 19, 2020, 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm, Cutler-O'Neill Meyer-Woodring Funeral Home & Crematory, 545 Willow Avenue
Council Bluffs, IA 51503. Services: Thurs., Feb. 20, 2020, 10:00 am, Broadway United Methodist Church, 11 S. 1st Street, Council Bluffs, with luncheon to follow. Graveside services: Thurs,  2:30 pm, Center Grove Cemetery, Westboro, Missouri. To send flowers or a remembrance gift to the family of Marylea Schwenn Hall, please visit Cutler-O'Neill's Tribute Store .