Marilyn Ann Mathers

TRIBUTE

Services for Marilyn Mutti, 84, Pella, Iowa, formerly of Hopkins, Missouri, will be held Friday, July 21, at Conception Abbey, Conception, Missouri at 10 a.m. with a lunch to follow at the Abbey. Burial will be at the Hopkins Cemetery at 2 p.m. A visitation will be held Saturday, July 22, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Garden Chapel Funeral Home, Pella, with family present from 2-4 p.m.

Marilyn died June 10, at Pella Regional Hospital. She was born June 2, 1933, and was raised in Hopkins before moving to Pella in 2000 after the death of her husband George.

Marilyn graduated from Hopkins High School in 1951 and went on to earn French, German and English degrees at Northwest Missouri State College and a journalism degree from the University of Missouri. She taught at West Nodaway High School, Burlington Jct., Missouri, and Bedford (Iowa) Community High School and at Stephens College, Columbia, Missouri, and Central Methodist College, Fayette, Missouri. She worked for both The Hopkins Journal and The Bedford Times-Press. She most loved her time at Conception Abbey in public relations, a job she cherished most for the relationships it fostered. In her later years, she was a contributing columnist for The Hopkins Journal, Nodaway News-Leader and the Pella Chronicle. Her talents and interests included writing, journalistic work, collecting genealogy, knitting, reading and gourmet cooking.

Marilyn had a love for learning that never ceased. She remained intellectually curious throughout her life ... she never stopped challenging the status quo. Although she was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in her late 30's, she bravely persevered through the struggles and pain the disease presented.

Survivors include son Joe Mutti (Peter Oramas), Orlando, Florida, and daughters Ann Visser, Pella, Iowa, and Melinda Mutti, Joliet, Illinois, along with granddaughters Lauren Mutti (Michelle Peak), Grand Prairie, Texas, Alexandra Mutti, New York City, New York, and Kaci Visser (Shane Cox), Knoxville, Iowa. A host of family and friends also honor her memory.

Preceding her in death were her husband George, her son-in-law Joe Fuller, her parents, Ruth (Corwin) and Beryl Ray Mathers, her sister, Helen Pearl (Mathers) Malone, and her nephew Michael Malone.