Marion Elizabeth Nowak

Marion Elizabeth Nowak was born in May of 1935 in Bremenhaven, Germany. As a child, she enjoyed walking along the shore before it rained, where she said she could hear music in the waves. She moved to Plattsburgh, New York in 1960, where she worked as a waitress to support her four children. At age 50, she met the love of her life, Charles Nowak, at Friendship Manor in Salt Lake City, Utah where he was a cook and she was a waitress. Together, they opened Chuck and Marion’s Restaurant, which quickly became a favorite hangout for the local Salt Lake City police officers.

When her husband Chuck passed away in 1995, Marion moved to Abilene, Texas to be closer to her daughter, Barbara. Always a caregiver, Marion soon volunteered to become a foster grandmother with the Abilene Independent School system, where she touched the lives of countless teachers and students.

Wickedly funny, unfailingly practical, and an incredible cook, Marion was known for her famous potato salad and orange cake. She will always be remembered by her family as the honored matriarch and a survivor with an iron will and a heart of gold.

She is preceded in death by her husband, Charles Nowak, her mother, Irmgard Sawatzki, her father, Hermann Goebel, and her brothers Reinhold and Deiter Goebel.

She is survived by: daughter, Barbara Richards and her husband Bob; daughter, Patricia Throop and her husband Allan; son, John Goss and his wife LouAnn; daughter, Monique Swanson; grandson, Robert Richards; grandaughter, Cynthia Levin and her husband Ted; grandson, Stephen Richards and his wife Shayla; grandson, Scott Richards and his wife Marcie, grandson, Christopher Throop; grandaughter, Brianna Troop; grandaughter, Peyton Swanson, and her many great grandchildren, who were her pride and joy.

A visitation will be held on Friday, January 8th from 11:00am to 1:00pm at the Elliot-Hamil Funeral Home at 5701 Highway 277 South, Abilene, TX 79606, followed by a graveside service at 2:00pm at the at Elliot-Hamil Garden of Memory Cemetary.