Obituary of Marilyn Beth O'Harra

Marilyn B. O’Harra,, the daughter of Charles H. “Buster” Hill and Mary Elizabeth Bear was born May 27, 1946 in Redfield, South Dakota. She graduated from high school in Sturgis, South Dakota. Marilyn lived in Phoenix, Arizona for seven years before moving to Newton over thirty years ago. She drove a school bus, worked at Riverview Release Center in Newton, Iowa and the Women’s Reformatory in Mitchellville, Iowa before opening a daycare center in her home in Newton. Marilyn had devoted her life to her family. She enjoyed her family, especially her grandchildren. She also enjoyed camping, baking, sewing and gardening. Marilyn died on Friday, February 5, 2016, at the Grinnell Regional Medical Center in Grinnell, Iowa. She was 69 years old. She was preceded in death by her parents, an infant daughter, sister Mavis Otto and brother-in-law Andy Cordova. Those left to honor Marilyn’s memory include her daughters and sons-in-laws Cindy (Ted) Owens of Des Moines, Iowa, Marsha (Todd) Dreesman of Clarksville, Iowa, Nyanza O’Harra of Newton, her sons and daughter-in-law Ryan (Darlene) O’Harra of Carrollton, Kentucky and Anthony O’Harra (Natalie Wilson) of Newton, her grandchildren Amber, Brendan, Amanda, Christopher, Scotty, Josh, Kaitlyn, Jackson, Pacen, Aubrey and Lincoln, her great-grandchildren Cameron, Dalton and Aubrey, her sisters Frances Cordova of Albuquerque, New Mexico and Sharron Gruenwald of British Columbia, Canada and her brother Chuck Hill of Des Moines, Iowa.