Marion Coleen Putnam Lee, our loving mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and great-great-grandmother, passed away peacefully at Rocky Mountain Care, in Evanston, on Wednesday, March 6.
Marion was born on Aug. 29, 1932, in Ogden, Utah, at the Dee Hospital, the first born of nine children, to Elden and Olive Putnam. She was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Marion married Robert Ralph Lee on Aug. 25, 1950, in Evanston. They were married for 71 wonderful years. They had four lovely daughters, Linda, Brenda, Bobbi and Jeana.
Marion and Ralph had many lasting friendships because of their friendly nature and being snowbirds for most of their retirement.
Marion held many callings in her lifetime, such as teaching Sunday School, Relief Society Homemaking leader, in the Primary; and she was an exceptional visiting teacher.
She did much service for others, spending many hours doing genealogy, especially with her mother and sisters. She was also a member of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers.
Some of the jobs and hobbies Marion had during her life were: managing an ice cream shop at Freeman’s Cafe when slot machines were in style; she was a clerk at the Cornet store (the five and dime); she worked in the kitchen as a baker at the Wyoming State Hospital; she made spudnuts at the bake shop for only two weeks — she quit because she wanted to go on a date … not exactly sure who the lucky guy was!
When she was first married, she was a nurses’ aide in a Kentucky hospital while her husband was in the Army tank battalion. When her daughters were small children, she also studied to become an interior decorator. She was very talented in decorating, especially in her own home.
Selling Avon was another avenue she chose to explore. She was a top salesman, earning three porcelain dolls from the President’s Club, given to Avon’s very best salesman for 1986, 1987 and 1988. In her later years, she was the head baker at Uinta County School District No. 1 for 11 years, retiring in 1992.
One of Marion’s best success stories was doing the Cancer Crusade, earning “First Over Goal” and “Excellent Unit Goal,” helping to raise money to fight cancer. She did this with the help of her mother and a lot of wonderful volunteers. Marion pursued this endeavor because of the love she had for her brother, Blaine Putnam, who was battling cancer at the time.
Marion is survived by her daughters, Linda Kunz (Scott), Brenda Gerrard (Clifford), Roberta “Bobbi” Child (Boyd) and Jeana Cooper (Clay); 15 grandchildren, 29 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandson; four sisters, Glenna Stonebraker, Sally Thornhill, Elda Wickham and Barbara Peterson; two brothers-in-law, Stuart Lee and Dale Peterson; sisters-in-law, Toby Putnam, Rayito Putnam and Connie Nyman; and many nieces and nephews.
Marion was preceded in death by her husband, Ralph; parents; grandparents; sister, Judy Kay Putnam; brothers, Deverl “Bub” Putnam, Blaine Putnam and Danny Putnam; several brothers- and sisters-in-law; nieces; and nephews.
Our family appreciates the love, support and care our mother received from the staff at Rocky Mountain Care. We also appreciate all the love and support from family and friends with visits and special calls and text messages throughout this time of losing our mother.
Funeral services were held at 11 a.m. on Monday, March 11, at the Evanston 4th Ward chapel, 201 Sage St., Evanston. Visitation was from 9:30-10:45 a.m. prior to services.
