Marydell Marson

LEAVENWORTH, Wash. -- Marydell Delois Hoxworth Marson, 87, passed away peacefully Thursday, April 22, 2021, after a tragic fall and a week of fighting her injuries.

One of eight children of William L.D. and Della Hoxworth, Marydell was born in Lilbourn, Missouri, in 1933. She learned her strong work ethic from this sharecropper family and the fields of cotton in the Bootheel of Missouri. After graduating as the valedictorian of Wardell (Missouri) High School in 1951, she moved to Memphis, Tennessee, for schooling and work.

While attending a dance with friends in 1952, she made the acquaintance of a tall, dark and handsome young man in the Navy, from a state far away: Gordon Marson. She married him just months later on May 16, 1952, and after Memphis, they moved to the naval station at Patuxent River, Maryland, where their first son, Ken Marson Jr., was born. After Gordon was discharged from naval service, they moved to Leavenworth in late 1954, where they joined Gordon's parents and had two more children. They resided there for the remainder of their lives.

Marydell was known best for her kind and sweet disposition with a generous heart, steadfast in her faith despite life's many challenges. She was a devoted wife, mother, grand- and great-grandmother and a sharp businesswoman, helping manage the books of the family's business, Marson and Marson Lumber, started in 1955. She was a longtime member of the Leavenworth Community United Methodist Church.

Marydell leaves behind two surviving siblings, Lorene Grable of Cape Girardeau and David (Connie Roberts) Hoxworth of Rolla, Missouri; and a sister-in-law, Frances Hoxworth, her recently-deceased brother Gerald's wife. Marydell has three children: Ken (Margaret) Marson Jr. of Leavenworth, Chris Marson of Wenatchee, Washington, and Tamara (Samy Beau-Marquet) Marson of Seattle. There are five grandchildren: Nick Marson and Megan Botulinski (Ken and Margaret's children); and Melissa Marson Mathison, Kristen Deptula and Kathryn Marson Garcia (Chris's children, whom Gordon and Marydell helped raise beginning in the early 1990s); and seven great-grandchildren.

She was predeceased by her parents, as well as her siblings, Orville, Edna, Carl, Lewis and Gerald.

A celebration of life will be scheduled at a later date and with great respect for a safe event.

Marydell donated to at least a dozen or more organizations from the arts, to medical research and local social causes. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in memory of Marydell to Community Foundation of North Central Washington or Cascade Medical Foundation, or to your own favorite charity,

Arrangements were by Chapel of the Valley in East Wenatchee, Washington.

Condolences and memories may be shared at www.chapelofthevalleyncw.com/memorials/marydell-marson/4599752/index.php.