Marian Jane Sprecher

Marian Jane Sprecher, age 92, of Waukee, Iowa, (formerly of Urbandale) passed away peacefully October 30, 2023. Many regarded her a role model who journeyed through life with strength and kindness, and who embraced her final days with faith and family by her side.

Marian was born on November 13, 1930, in Madison, Wisconsin, to Ernest and Matilda (Stehr) Sund. She earned her teaching degree from Rural Normal Schools of Wisconsin, Reedsburg. While there, she met and fell in love with Vaun, marrying in 1951. She taught school in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, while continuing her education taking classes at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. In 1955, the couple moved to Des Moines, where Vaun began his career with Central Life Assurance, Co. and Marian began her career as mother, homemaker, volunteer, and got a bachelor’s degree in education along with a minor in dance from Drake University.

The home Marian made was emblematic of who she was and what she loved. Her favorite color, purple, could be found from the carpet to the furniture to the clothes in her closet, and her favorite food, chocolate, was also found throughout the house. The Little Free Library in the front yard reflected her love of books, and her carefully cultivated yard was full of plants and flowers that attracted her feathered friends. The walls were adorned with family heirlooms and her own artistry – five decades of needlework that will in turn become heirlooms and adorn the walls of her children and grandchildren.

Marian constantly evolved her needlework skills - starting with simple pieces, she continued to hone her craft throughout her life and created countless intricate and exquisite works of art. Her artistic legacy lives on through the classes she taught, the pieces she stitched, and through her children and grandchildren in whom she instilled an enduring love for needlework.

Marian also excelled at entertaining. She loved to thoughtfully and tastefully entertain for occasions large and small – holiday feasts, birthday parties, bridge club, or just family visits. She enjoyed celebrating and decorating for all holidays, but Christmas was the ultimate – a Christmas tree in every room (and yes, the biggest one was decked out in purple), a whimsical Santa collection, more nativities than you can imagine, and a Christmas something at each turn. She soaked up the company of her family and friends at every occasion, and went out of her way to make all feel welcome and cared for.

Altruistic in nature, Marian served behind the scenes and took the lead in many organizations – Church, Cub Scouts, PTA, La Sertoma, Blank Children’s Hospital Festival of Trees, and Methodist Hospital floral department, to name a few. Late in life, she volunteered at the Urbandale Community Center. While attending Tai Chi there, she noticed they were in need of someone to organize and run their little library and decided it should be her. She also decided it needed to be decorated with rotating festive décor because wherever she was donating her time, she leant her creative touch.

Faith was a driving force in Marian’s life. She and her young family were active members of Trinity Lutheran Church, where they met other young couples who became their dear lifelong friends. Their church went through some divisions and mergers (culminating in the formation of Faith Lutheran Church, of which they were charter members), but they maintained those friendships from their early years at Trinity their entire lives.

Marian’s journey on Earth has ended, but she leaves her loving, chocolaty fingerprints on everyone and everything she touched – her family, friends, and community – and she leaves a lifetime of memories that will never melt away. She loved dearly, was dearly loved, and will be dearly missed.

She is survived by her husband of 72 years, Vaun Sprecher; children, Michael (Mary) Sprecher and Tracie (Steve Schmidt) Vranich; grandchildren, Jacob, Ashley, and Jenny Sprecher and John, Gage, and Emma Vranich; brothers-in-law, Phil (Flora) Sprecher and Dale (Cynthia) Sprecher; as well as extended family.

Marian was preceded in death by her parents, Ernest and Matilda Sund; sisters, Ruth Rowinski and Delores Sund; stepmother Lillie Sund; stepbrothers Norman (Dorothy) Muenkel and Harold (Winifred) Muenkel; sisters-in-law, Marceil (Lowell) Tooley and Eileen Luetscher; and so many wonderful friends.

Services will be held Monday, November 6, 2023, at Faith Lutheran Church in Clive, Iowa. Visitation will be from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. Funeral service will begin at 11:00 a.m. with a luncheon to follow. Burial will take place at McDivitt Cemetery at a later date. For those who cannot attend the service in person, it will be livestreamed through the link below.

Memorial contributions in honor of Marian can be made to Doctors Without Borders or the Urbandale Public Library.

Condolences may be expressed at www.HamiltonsFuneralHome.com

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