Marian Katherine Orne

Marian Katherine (Krenske) Orne, 92, died peacefully Monday, March 28, 2016 at her home at Monarch Meadows, North Mankato, in the company of her children and their spouses.

A gathering to honor her life will be held Sunday, April 10, 2016 at First Presbyterian Church, 220 East Hickory Street, Mankato, with visitation beginning at 2 p.m., service at 2:30 p.m. followed by a reception luncheon and sharing of memories. Burial will be at a later date at Calvary Cemetery, Faribault.

Marian is survived by her children, Thomas (Patricia) Orne of North Mankato and Pamela (Darrell) Moe of Bloomington; grandchildren, Joel Orne of Brooklyn Park, Jason (Colleen) Orne of Avon, Jodi Copa of Benson, Jennifer (Joe) Williams of Cambridge, Ryan (Jill) Ashling of Justin, TX, Grant Ashling of New Hope; great-grandchildren Noah Bagwell, Lily, Emily and John Orne, Jadin, Zachary, Cordelia and Natalia Copa, Kristin, Sean and Tylar Williams, Marryanna and Sylvanna Wallace, Haley Ashling; and half-brother, Rick Krenske, of Cottage Grove.

Marian was born September 29, 1923, in Faribault, Minnesota to Jessie and Beatrice (Hallet) Krenske. She attended Bethlehem Academy and graduated from Faribault High School in 1941, where she participated in band, choir, yearbook and business coursework. She enjoyed summers at the family cabin near French Lake. She married Frederick D. Orne, also of Faribault, on August 8, 1943 at El Paso, TX. When he shipped out with the U.S. Army to the Philippines during World War II, Marian returned with her son, Thomas, born 1944, to Faribault. Their daughter Pamela was born in Faribault in 1950. Marian remained a patriot all of her life.

Marian worked as a switchboard operator at Bell Telephone Co. in Faribault. Later, when her husband’s job as Ford dealer service manager took the family to Albert Lea, (Owatonna) Glencoe, Brooklyn Center, Detroit Lakes (Fargo), then to Edina, Marian directed the household. Wherever they lived, the Orne home became home to everyone in the neighborhood, with Marian closely supervising. Fred and Marian later divorced. Marian then worked as an administrative assistant at Photos Inc. and Superdupes in Minneapolis, and later as a personal care attendant.

She was known for her precision and orderliness – “a place for everything and everything in its place” – her potato salad, fruit salad and banana bread (staples at every family gathering), and for hosting the family Christmas party, complete with Santa Claus, for decades. She was an excellent seamstress, making many homemade garments for herself and her family. Her humor, story-telling ability, wisdom sharing and contagious laugh remained throughout her life, to the delight of family and her caregivers at Monarch Meadows (“Are you with me?”). She enjoyed watching competitive ice skating, had a lifelong love of music, and carefully recorded and stored family and Faribault history.

Marian’s family is grateful to Mayo Clinic Health System-Mankato medical and chaplain staff members, palliative care and hospice team for outstanding, attentive and caring service to both Marian and her family members in her final week. The same deep gratitude is extended for the Monarch Meadows team's faithful and caring ministry to Marian during her 3-1/2 years in residence there and in her final days and hours. Every family should be as blessed as we were by their tenderness and kindness to Marian and to us.

 As Marian took her last breaths, a CD medley was playing in her room: "Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling, calling for you and for me ... He's waiting and watching ... Come home, come home, ye who are weary, come home" and "Run to Jesus, Run to Jesus, Run to Jesus - and live!" What a beautiful invitation from God to this weary, long-lived offspring. The promise of eternal life, love and joy for Marian was fulfilled as we watched her depart from this land into God's company, at last joining her beloved mother and other departed friends and family. "Praise God from whom all blessings flow."

For church map, check www.fpcmankato.org