LA MOILLE - Marion Helen Schammel, 80, of LaMoille passed away Jan. 19, 2021 at home after a courageous battle with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). Marion went to sleep and woke up in heaven with her Lord and Savior, Jesus and was reunited with family and friends who went before.

Funeral services will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 22 at Zion Lutheran Church of Clarion with Rev. Phil Gronbach officiating. Burial will be at Clarion Cemetery. Visitation will be held two hours prior to the funeral. Masks and social distancing are required due to COVID restrictions. Merritt Funeral Home, Mendota is assisting the family.

Pallbearers will be Mark Bickett, Keith and Lori Rosenwinkel, Charlene Zimmerman, Donna Zinke and Tom Weeks. Honorary pallbearers will be Josh Bickett, Allen Zimmerman and Joyce Sondergroth.

Marion was born Nov. 8, 1940 in Mendota to Roy and Freida (Zimmerman) Haefner. She married Howard Schammel 61-plus years ago on June 21, 1959 at Clarion Lutheran Church.

Survivors include her husband; two daughters, Becky Schammel of Rockford and Colleen (Mark) Bickett of Princeton; one grandson, Josh (Abby Sheets) Bickett of Chicago; her first great-grandson coming in May of 2021; two sisters-in-law, Sue (Dave) Brown and Eileen Weber, both of Sandwich; and two brothers-in-law, Douglas (Karen) Schammel of Sublette and Alan (Sandy) Schammel of Compton.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her parents-in-law, Charles and Ethel (Kleckner) Schammel; one sister-in-law, Dorothy (Schammel) Prewitt; and one brother-in-law, Delbert Weber.

Marion attended Basswood Corner Country School until second grade and graduated from LaMoille High School in 1958. After high school, she worked briefly as a nurse’s aide at Mendota Hospital and then settled happily into married life as a farm wife and mother. She also worked from 1995-2005 in the cafeteria at Mendota High School. She loved working hard, climbing windmills, riding beloved horses and raising milk cows, hogs and chickens on the centennial farm where she grew up and lived all her life. She was affectionately known as the “egg lady” for all her egg deliveries to homes and businesses throughout the area. She was a woman of great faith and lived her confirmation verse of Luke 10:42 with complete trust in the Lord as evidenced by the yellowed and tattered pages of her well-worn, read and highlighted Bible. She started her day at an early hour reading her Bible and devotions and praying throughout the day especially for Howard and her girls and for any she knew that were struggling. She was very active in her church, serving many years as a Sunday school teacher, on the church council, in women’s circles, and was involved in Bible studies. She was an avid reader. Marion lit up the lives of everyone with her ever-present smile and laughter and practiced kindness daily. She never met a stranger.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to LaMoille-Clarion Public Library, Graves-Hume Public Library in Mendota and the Zion Lutheran Church of Clarion cemetery fund for upkeep of the cemetery.