Marie McAllister, 80

Oct. 5, 1938 —

July 29, 2019

 

CRESCO - Marie C. McAllister, age 80, of Cresco, Iowa, passed away on Monday, July 29, 2019 at Evans Memorial Home in Cresco.

A Mass of Christian burial will be held on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2019 at 3 p.m. at the Notre Dame Parish in Cresco. Interment will be in the Calvary Cemetery in Cresco.

Visitation will be held on July 31, 2019 from 4-7 p.m. at Lindstrom Funeral Home in Cresco and one hour prior to service at the church.

Marie Catherine Kleve was born on Oct. 5, 1938 to Hugo and Mary Kleve in the family farm house north of Cresco. She attended St. Joseph’s Parochial School and graduated on May 20, 1956 from Notre Dame High School as class salutatorian. On May 27 she started working at Hawkeye Tri County Electric as a secretary and billing clerk. It was a position she held until 1959, when she became a full-time farm wife and mother. 

On July 26, 1958, she was united in marriage to John “Chub” McAllister. To this union five children were born, Pat, Mike, Jeff, Shari and Kathy.

In the 1980s, she became a real estate salesperson, then a broker, working for Allan Hauge in Osage and Weber & Lentz Realty in Cresco and then started McAllister Realty. On Sept. 15, 1986, she became employed by Donaldson Company Inc., a position she held for 21 years. 

Marie was active in church activities. She served on the Assumption Church Council, was co-chair of Assumption Alter Society, was a eucharistic minister, was co-chair lady of the Notre Dame Alter Society and also taught first grade CCD classes. She was a chairperson for the local 120 UAW Retirees. 

Grandma Mac enjoyed going to her grandchildren’s school activities. She would often take her Beanie Baby collection for show-and-tell in her grandchildren’s classrooms. She was an avid reader and loved her music. She spent her leisure time playing her Wurlitzer. 

She is survived by her five children, Pat (Gail) McAllister of Hood River, Ore., Mike (Laura) McAllister of Cresco, Jeff (Shelly) McAllister of Cresco, Shari McAllister of Phoenix, Ariz. and Kathy (Darrell) Aders of Loda, Ill.; grandchildren, Steve (Alyse) McAllister of Farnhamville, Iowa, Jessica (Aaron) Ellensohn of Gilbert, Iowa, Nathan McAllister of Cresco, Erin (Joey) Kappauf of Caledonia, Minn., Meghan (Ryan) Harrod of Cresco, Kaitlin (Alex) Holmstrom of Cresco and Austin (Haley Martin) of Cresco; great-grandchildren, Brock Balik, Sawyer McAllister, Aylah McAllister, Sienna Balik, Savanna Balik, Tristan and Briggs Ellensohn, Morgan Kappauf and another due in November; brother, Roger (Elaine) Kleve of Cresco; sisters, Joan (Don) Carolan of Cresco, Jeanette “George” Chwialkowski of Minneapolis, Minn. and Diane (Norby) Bohr of Decorah, Iowa; brother-in-law, Donald (Muriely) McAllister of North Richland, Texas; 31 nieces and nephews and many cousins; and two dear friends, Evie Hurst of Clermont, Iowa and Fran Pearson of Cresco. She also leaves the caring and special staff at the Evans Memorial Home and the Howard County Hospice Team. 

Marie was preceded in death by her husband, John; parents, Hugo and Mary; daughter-in-law, Pam McAllister; brother and sister-in-law, Ralph “Arkie” (Joan) Kleve; sisters and brothers-in-law, Delores (Darryl) Davis, Ann (Don) Scharnweber, Hilary Chwialkowski and Lloyd McAllister; and a niece, Susan McAllister.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donations made to Hospice of Howard County, Evans Memorial Home of Cresco or Cresco Public Library.