Marion Leichty

Marion Leroy Leichty of Kalona, formally of Noble, IA, passed away peacefully at University of Iowa Hospital, Monday, November 18, 2019.

A Celebration of life will be 11:00 AM Saturday, November 23, 2019 at the Bethel Church in Wayland. Visitation will be Friday, November 22, from 4-7:00 PM at the Washington Mennonite Church. Private family burial will be at the Bethel Cemetery prior to the service.  In lieu of flowers a memorial fund has been established for the Crooked Creek Christian Camp. The Beatty Funeral Home is assisting the family.

Marion was born May 7, 1934 on the family farm in Noble, Iowa to Henry E and Leona (Miller Leicthy. He was the 6th of 13 children. He attended Eicher School and graduated from Wayland High School in 1952. He served his (1-W) alternative service at the Oakdale Tuberculosis Hospital in Oakdale, Iowa.

On July 3, 1955, he married Marlene Yoder in Kalona, Iowa and they lived in Wayland, Iowa until moving to Albany, Oregon.  While there, he completed his apprenticeship laying ceramic tile and marble. In 1969, they returned to Iowa to become the third generation on the Century Noble Farm while raising their children Anthony, Lanol and Christine.

Farming was his passion and his uncanny mechanical skills allowed him to repair or build almost anything.  In 1989, he and Marlene began working as co-managers for Holiday Retirement in Iowa, Illinois and Oregon. In 1993, they returned to the farm and he spent seven years doing maintenance at Crooked Creek Camp before ‘retiring’.  He was his happiest in a tractor helping his brother in the fields, spring and fall.

He was an active member of the Washington Mennonite Church, where he served as an elder.  He and Marlene served as church youth sponsors. He served with the following: as a Marion township trustee, as secretary on the Parkview Retirement board, and volunteered with Mennonite Disaster Service and at Crowded Closet.  Many winters were spent in Glendale, Arizona where he volunteered at Glencroft Retirement Facility.

Marion enjoyed farming and working in his woodworking shop.  He will be remembered for his dedication to the Lord, his deep faith, his devotion to others and for a life well-lived.  Known by his loved ones as a ‘prayer warrior’, he treasured his family. His service to others, his dry sense of humor, his quiet
patience and constant smile is his legacy to all who knew him.

Survivors include his cherished wife of 64 years, Marlene; sons Anthony of Klawock, Alaska,  Lanol (Carrie) of Lakeville, Minnesota and daughter Christine Cahoe (Brian) of Louisville, Kentucky; 7 grandchildren: Jeremy (Amanda), Jared, Brandon (Annah), Ryan (Callie) and Jenna Leichty, and Trevor and Dylan Cahoe and 2 great-grandsons: Caleb and Henry Leichty.  He leaves his brothers, Edwin, Calvin, Richard, Dwight, Larry, Royce, Wesley, Douglas and sister Doris Mullet.

Preceding him in death were his parents, brother Ellis and sisters Verda Mae and Lois Hochstetler.