Mrs. Eunice Marlene (Osborn-Arens) Westergren, 86, of La Porte, passed away on Sunday, May 9, 2021 at Settlers House.

 

Marlene was born on September 3, 1934 in Valparaiso, Indiana, to Sheldon Eugene and Helen Eunice (Foltz) Wolfe and had lived in La Porte since 1954, coming from Watertown, New York.  She was a 1952 graduate of Valparaiso High School and later attended Valparaiso University.  Marlene was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, serving in many capacities.  She was also a member of the Linné Lodge 153 Vasa Order of America.

 

Marlene was an accomplished pianist and organist.  Her children lovingly remember a home filled with classical music.  She taught piano since 1960, teaching scores of young students, accompanied Tri Kappa's Carnation Capers and the La Porte County Choralaires, started "The Secretariat", a telephone answering and medical secretarial service, owned a health food store for two years, and was an obituary editor at the La Porte Herald-Argus for a number of years.  For more than 60 years, she was an accompanist for adult and primary children church meetings.  Marlene had a love for family history and assisted many people in searching out their ancestors.

 

On March 6, 1953 in San Francisco, she married David Woodson Osborn, who passed on May 21, 1974.  Together with their children, David and Marlene were sealed in the Manti, Utah Temple on August 21, 1971.  On June 30, 2006, Marlene married Gordon Lewis Westergren, who survives.

 

Also surviving are her two daughters, Jody Rae (Dwight) Ames of Union Mills and Michelle Diane (Matthew) Rozinski of Michigan City; three sons, Steven Woodson (Jeanne) Osborn, Thomas Irvin (April) Osborn II, and David Brian Osborn, all of La Porte; 4 stepchildren, Louis (Kelly) Boswell III of Richland, Michigan, Jeffrey (Vickie) Westergren of Yoakum, Texas, Eric (Ronda) Westergren of Lake Charles, Louisiana  and Kristen (Tom) Westergren Cleland of Kalamazoo, Michigan; 17 grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; 4 stepgrandchildren; 4 great-stepgrandchildren; sister, Nancy Lee (Dennis) Hrinda of Bloomberg, Pennsylvania; brother, Robert Eugene Wolfe of Ann Arbor, Michigan; and cousins, Helen (Richard) Brownfield of Minden, Nevada and Carole Worster.

 

She was preceded by her parents; first husband; and 2 great-grandchildren, Kayla Grace and Kayden Matthew Ames.

 

A Celebration of Life Service will be held at 1 p.m. on Monday, May 17, 2021 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 220 Crescent Dr., La Porte, with Bishop Benjamin Palmer officiating.  Burial will follow at Oak Grove Cemetery in Mill Creek, Indiana.

 

A time of visitation will be held from 4 - 7 p.m. on Sunday, May 16, 2021 at Cutler Funeral Home and Cremation Center and from 11 a.m. until the time of the service on Monday at the church. 

 

Due to the recent La Porte County Order, anyone attending the visitation and/or service is required to wear a mask.

 

Memorial donations may be made to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 220 Crescent Dr., La Porte, IN 46350.

 

Condolences may be shared with the family on www.cutlercares.com.