Marilyn Martha Lorentzen

Mrs. Marilyn M. (Jens) Lorentzen, 94, of Davenport, IA, passed away peacefully Sunday, August 16, 2026 at Encompass Rehabilitation Institute in Moline, Illinois. A celebration of her life will be held over Marilyn’s favorite holiday weekend, Thanksgiving, in Davenport. A private, family inurnment will be in Fairmount Cemetery, Davenport.

Marilyn was born in 1932 in Davenport to Wilfred and Martha Jens. She met her husband Carol Lorentzen when they attended high school together in Buffalo, Iowa. After Carol’s Air Force deployment during the Korean conflict, she accepted his proposal-by-mail. On November 11, 1952, Carol and Marilyn were married at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, AK. In 1954 they were stationed at Peterson Field in Colorado Springs, CO; and in 1955 they returned to live near Buffalo, IA.

Frugal and hard-working, Marilyn spent her adulthood as the de facto head of the Lorentzen household. Marilyn and Carol were a team; they saved, bought, improved, and traded land and houses until making their home on a farm in Muscatine County in 1969. For many years, those homes hosted multiple gatherings of family and friends, planned and unplanned, small and large - sometimes numbering in the hundreds. In 1992 they retired to Davenport and have resided at Garner Farms since 2008, where those memories were treasured and shared with a circle of close friends.

In addition to performing her role as chief disciplinarian to their five children, Marilyn graced each of her residences with a large, diverse, productive garden. She planted and tended it, then harvested, prepared, and preserved its produce, wrestling assistance from whichever child was within earshot. She worked outside the home on and off as a bookkeeper, and her efforts were always treasured by employers including Martin Marietta Credit Union, Rock Island Bank, and McCarthy Bush. Mid-career, she taught herself to use early versions of computer spreadsheets—one example of a lifelong willingness to learn and adapt. Marilyn was also a voracious reader who loved discussing books and sharing them with friends and relatives. In time, many of the physical books gave way to an iPad and a very long Goodreads list. She took pride in mastering both her iPad and cellphone, using them to read and to join weekly video calls with family.

Marilyn’s spirit of industry was inseparable from her devotion to family. For as long as her aging fingers permitted, she crocheted blankets for each new grandchild and great-grandchild. She will be remembered for the homes she made, the tables she filled, the work she expected, and the example she set: waste little, do your part, and always make room for family and friends.

Survivors include sisters Kay (Neil) Turner of Marion, IA and Dorothy Smith of Midway, AR; children John (Penney Fillmer) Lorentzen of Deer Grove, IL, Joel (Ann) Lorentzen of Rock Island, IL, Leland (Stacey) Lorentzen of Muscatine, IA, and Linda (Rick) Cornelius of Wayzata, MN and her daughter-in-law Mary Lorentzen of Illinois City, IL; 12 grandchildren - Benjamin Lorentzen, Katherine (Erik) Hove, Michelle (Ken) Abbott, Emily (Brian) Bedwell, Rebecca (Kraig) Kelly, David (Joyce “Bijoux” Nimocks) Lorentzen, Alex (Jamie) Lorentzen, Jacob Lorentzen, Allison (Daniel Ma) Cornelius, Noah Lorentzen, Andrew (Carissa) Cornelius, and Kevin Cornelius; 18 great-grandchildren - great-granddaughters Avelyn, Beth, Caroline, Edda, Eloise, Emera, Florence, Isla, Mabel, Rooney, and Willa; and great-grandsons Cory, Henry, Karl, Konrad, Lucas, Rudy, and Thomas. And at least one more on the way! She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, a son Mitchell R. Lorentzen, a sister Billie Jean Mountjoy, infant brother Duane Jens, and infant great-grandson Matthew Lorentzen.

Memorials may be made to Huntington’s Disease Society of America at www.hdsa.org.