Marlys Fober

Marlys Fober age 79 of Sumner, IA, died Tuesday, October 6, 2020, at Community Memorial Hospital in Sumner, IA. Funeral Services will be held at 2:00 p.m. Friday, October 9, 2020, at The United Methodist Church in Fredericksburg with Rev. Mike Christie presiding. Per the family’s request, masks are strongly recommended as well as the practice of social distancing. Interment will be held in Greenwood Cemetery, Nashua with Abbie Schepers, Wil Parker, Katie England, Luke Fober, and MaryAnn Fober serving as pallbearers. Friends may greet the family from 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. on Friday, October 9, 2020, prior to the service at the church in Fredericksburg. Marlys was born on April 2, 1941, to Irven and Mary (Swinton) Dietz. She was the youngest of the Dietz’s three children and grew up on the family’s farm, where she loved to ride horses, did her share of farm chores and helped her mother. She attended country school through the eighth grade, transferred to Nashua High School and was a member of the Class of 1959. After high school, she attended and graduated from La James Cosmetology School in Mason City. On New Year’s Eve 1960, she went with friends to a dance in Janesville, and it was life-changing decision for Marlys. At that dance, she met Deane Fober. The two fell in love and after a short courtship, they were married on Oct. 15, 1961, at the United Methodist Church in Nashua. The couple first worked on the Fober family farm in Plainfield, moved to Nashua to work on the Dietz’s family farm and then bought a farm in rural Sumner in the early 1970s. Their family steadily grew with the births of Krystal, Denise, Brad, Michelle and Doug. Marlys was the quintessential farm wife and mother. She and Deane were true partners when it came to every facet of their growing family’s farm. She did chores and drove tractors, yet when her children returned home from school each day, Marlys always had fresh baked cookies, brownies or cakes waiting for them, and one never left the Fober house hungry, for not only could Marlys bake but she was also an excellent cook. Her meals often included produce she grew in her good-sized garden and canned. In their younger days, she and Deane enjoyed going dancing and playing cards. Later in life, she searched cookbooks for new and even better recipes and she also loved spending time outdoors. Family, though, was her No. 1 priority. She spoiled nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, baking for them and making sure that there was always more than enough homemade candy in the house at Christmas time. Those grandchildren and “greats” loved spending time with her, because Marlys understood there was no greater gift she could give than “her time.” Marlys was diagnosed with leukemia shortly after Thanksgiving 2019, and she fought the disease with everything she had, including a lifelong strong faith that continued as a longtime member of the United Methodist Church in Fredericksburg. She had a great winter, a great spring and a great summer, but her health took a dramatic turn in late September. She fought the good fight, and although her husband of almost 59 years, her children, her grandchildren, her family and her friends will dearly miss this marvelous cook and baker who spread so much love during her 79 years here on Earth, they are grateful that she is at peace and that the angels have taken her to Heaven. Marlys is survived by her husband, Deane Fober of Sumner, IA; children, Krystal (Kevin) Parker of Schoolcraft, MI, Denise (John) Ebersole of St. Charles, IL, Brad (Marie) Fober of Sumner, IA, Michelle Fober of Lagrange Park, IL, Doug (Margaret) Fober of Sumner, IA; nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren; one sister, Lois (Bob) Horton of Wilmette, IL. She was preceded in death by her parents; one great-granddaughter, Charlotte England. Memorials can be directed to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and the Ronald McDonald House.