Marion Elizabeth Walbrun

Marion was born in Fredonia, Wisconsin at the dawn of the Great Depression, the second of three daughters of Loretta and William Neuens. She graduated from Marquette University in 1950 and married Gerald (Jerry) Walbrun in August of 1952. Jerry was beginning his career with General Motors and was sent to Flint, Michigan where their first child, Mark, was born. As was common with many corporations at the time, getting promoted meant getting transferred, and they subsequently moved to Denver, Chicago, Madison, Milwaukee, Chicago (again), Grand Blanc, Michigan, San Francisco, back to Chicago, Charlotte, NC, Philadelphia, Morristown, NJ, and Rochester, Michigan. Three more children, Jane, Kay and Steve, were added to the family amidst all of those moves and Marion got to put together and disassemble all of those houses with four kids, who complained constantly about every move. Never was a single thought given as to how hard these moves were on Marion, as we knew the universe revolved around us.

Jerry retired from General Motors in 1987 and they moved to Neenah, Wisconsin for his dream job with the Experimental Aircraft Association in Oshkosh. Thankfully, all their children were out of the nest and they got to develop their own social lives in the frozen northland. When the time came to retire for good in 1994, they decided on Florida where the weather is always nice for flying. They moved to an airplane community in Ocala and immediately were accepted into a wonderful group of friends. Marion became an active participant in activities with friends in their community and their church. They spent many happy years in Ocala. Jerry passed away in 2013, and Marion decided in 2016 that keeping up a large house by herself was not fun and that she wanted to move to The Carriage House, an independent living retirement community near The Villages. Marion enjoyed participating in the many activities offered there.

The Villages proved to be such a nice place that two of her children, Kay and Steve and their spouses, decided to relocate there from Texas and Michigan, respectively. They were a tremendous help to Marion as her health challenges increased.

Surviving are her children Mark (Laurie), Jane Cocke (Tommy), Kay Barclay (Dan), and Steve (Karin), grandchildren Daniel Walbrun, Katherine Walbrun, David Walbrun, Adam Cocke, Glenn Asplin, Steven Asplin, Scott Walbrun and Tom Walbrun and two great grandchildren, Sebastian Walbrun and Ellison Walbrun, who were born on the same day much to Marion’s delight!

To honor Marion, a Celebration of Life will be held the afternoon of December 23rd at 3:00 pm near The Villages at Dignity Memorial Life Celebration Center, 7134 Powell Road, Wildwood, FL 34785. There will be an additional celebration in Wisconsin in the late spring with details to be announced at a later date. In keeping with Marion’s strongly held beliefs, in lieu of flowers please consider a donation to St. Theresa Catholic Church, 11528 US 301, Belleview, FL 34420, Attn: Legion of Mary, or “any political organization opposing the Democrats”.