Marcele Kottman

Marcele Marjorie (Pals) Kottman, 92, formerly of Thornton, Iowa, died Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2014, at the Rehabilitation Center, of Hampton, Iowa.

A funeral service was held Saturday, Oct. 25, at the St. Paul Lutheran Church, Thornton, with Rev. Rhea Evanson officiating.    Interment was at the Pleasantview Cemetery, Thornton.  Memorials may be given to the Marcele Kottman Memorial Fund.

     Marcele Marjorie was born Aug. 30, 1922, the daughter of C.K. and Katie Barkema Pals.  She was the fifth child of seven children.  She was born on a farm northwest of Meservey, Iowa.  She attended school at Meservey Consolidated School.  She graduated from the eighth grade in May 1936.  She didn’t attend high school, but in 1966 Marcele took the GED tests at Clear Lake, sponsored by the then Mason City Junior College before it was NIACC.  She passed the test and received an equivalency diploma.  

     She married James C. Kottman on Feb. 26, 1942, at her parent’s home in Meservey.  To this union two children were born; Kathryn Louise Kottman, born March 16, 1947, and Jane Ellen Kottman, born June 5, 1952.

Marcele grew up in the Meservey area.  She was baptized in the First Reformed Church in Meservey and attended Sunday School and catechism at the church, except for the two years that her family moved to a farm at Malcom, Iowa, to be near a sister, Tena M. Hillmann, and family.  They then moved to a farm near Thornton with her parents in 1940.  

While Kathy and Jane were growing up and attending school in Thornton, Marcele was involved in PTA and Sunday School.  She was a Sunday School teacher for 18 years at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Thornton, teaching the children about the love of Jesus Christ for all children who came to Sunday School.  She also enjoyed singing in the choir at St. Paul until it was disbanded in 2009.  Marcele was 87 years old at the time.  She loved to sing the hymns of the church to anyone who would listen.

She worked at Mabb’s Grocery store in Thornton from 1975 - 1988 as a cashier and always enjoyed talking with the customers.

Cherished memories as a 

mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and great-great grandmother will be deeply missed by her daughter, Kathryn (Kathy) Schlawin and her husband, Jerry, Jane Dhondt and her husband, Leland; grandchildren, Carol Ann (Greg) Johnson, Gary (Eileen) Schlawin; great-grandchildren, Jarret Nicholas Johnson, Kenneth James Johnson, Dustin Lee Pensel, Hunter Eugene Schlawin, Carter Lee Schlawin; and great-great grandchild, Amberlynn (Marie) Pensel.  Many nieces and nephews will cherish her memory.     

     Marcele was preceded in death by her husband of 54 years, James C. Kottman; her parents, C.K. Pals and Katie Barkema Pals; siblings, Tena Hillmann, Raymond Pals, Ruth Syverson, Stanley Pals, Russell Pals, and Margaret Hake; sisters-in-law, Evelyn Kruse, Cora Kottman; and brother-in-law, Wilbert Kruse.

Ward-Van Slyke Colonial Chapel was in charge of arrangements.