Marilyn Louise Leydens

Marilyn Louise Leydens departed this life on May 4, 2022 surrounded by her children. She has joined her husband Matt aboard their eternal sailboat. M & M has set sail on their final voyage.

She is survived by her son Matthew; her daughters, Connie (Doug) Maxwell and Jane (Dennis) Whitney; her grandson, Alexander (Kathy) Maxwell; her granddaughters, Emily (James) Morgan and Rebecca Flanigan; and her great grandchildren, Audrey Maxwell, William Flanigan, and Alexandria and Adeline Morgan. She was preceded in death by her husband Matthew Leydens.

Marilyn was born in Baxter, Iowa in 1931 and lived with her sisters and one brother on a working farm. She trained English Springer Spaniels as a teenager which she would take to dog shows where she won many ribbons. She hunted with her father, using her dogs to retrieve game. Always the outdoors woman, she spent many summers hunting, fishing, and swimming at the family cabin in Minnesota. Her other recreational activities included horseback riding, bicycling, and softball. She met and married her childhood sweetheart while working at her uncle’s ice cream shop in Newton. She would take Matthew an ice cream cone on hot days while he sat on the front steps of his home across the street from the ice cream shop. Together, they built a small SCUBA diving business into a lifetime of adventures and memories shared by thousands throughout the world. She learned to scuba dive and dove alongside Matt as he taught others to scuba dive and served as photographer, wildlife investigator, dive buddy, and First Mate on sailing trips. She was the ultimate host on dive trips and in her home where she took pride in “using every dish in the house” in order to make her gatherings a success. (It was a family saying that she measured her gatherings a success only if she was able to use every dish in the house.)

She was bookkeeper and business manager from the very beginning of the business and continued to learn new processes and technologies as she helped to guide their small business into a multi-faceted enterprise. She was a well-known Des Moines business woman, avid bridge player, devoted mother, and doting grandmother. Her greatest joy came when she could entertain her grandchildren and their friends at her home. She was loved and admired by many and will be greatly missed.

Marilyn will be laid to rest with her husband, Matthew Leydens, at the Iowa Veterans Cemetery in Adel, Iowa. There will be a gathering in her honor at the Cemetery Tuesday, May 10, 2022 at 2 PM. Friends and family are invited to attend the celebration of life at the Iowa Veterans Cemetery’s outdoor pavilion and encouraged to share their own memories, photographs, stories and adventures of time spent with Marilyn.

The family would like to invite everyone to a gathering after the ceremony from 3-4:30 p.m. at the American Legion Veterans Reception Center, 910 Main Street in Van Meter, IA where light refreshments will be served.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Central Iowa Animal Rescue League in Ankeny, Iowa. Online condolences may be expressed at www.HamiltonsFuneralHome.com.

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