Marcelle "Marcella" Millie Theis

Hills, MN Marcelle "Marcella" Theis, age 93 of Hills, MN died Saturday, November 22, 2014 at Tuff Memorial Home in Hills, MN. Funeral service will be 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, November 26, 2014 at the Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Hills. Burial will follow in the church cemetery following the funeral service. Visitation will be Tuesday, November 25th from 2-8 p.m. with the family present from 6-8 p.m. at the Jurrens Funeral Home of Hills, MN. Marcelle Millie Ness was born March 5, 1921, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Morris and Anna (Sime) Ness. The family moved to Enderlin, North Dakota, later that year and then to rural Faulkton, South Dakota, in 1922, where they resided with Marcelle's maternal grandparents on the family homestead. In 1925, Marcelle moved with her mother to Flandreau, South Dakota. A year later, they moved to the farm of her stepfather, Gilbert Gullickson, west of Flandreau. Marcelle attended elementary school at the rural Chamberlin school west of Flandreau. On June 13, 1937, she was confirmed in the Evangelical Lutheran Church at Clare Lutheran in Colman, South Dakota. She attended high school in Egan, South Dakota, graduating in 1938 as class salutatorian. From 1939-41, Marcelle attended Augustana College in Sioux Falls. She then returned to Flandreau to help on the family farm. During the winter months, she worked on the production line at John Morrell and Company in Sioux Falls. In 1950, Marcella moved to Sioux Falls and worked as a sales clerk, first at Montgomery Ward and then from 1951-53 at the Shriver-Johnson Company. On June 6, 1953, Marcella was united in marriage to Paul Walter Theis at Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Flandreau. They moved to their farm west of Hills, Minnesota, in March 1954 and farmed until Paul's retirement in 1979. Marcella was a member of Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Hills, where she taught Sunday school for 16 years, from 1961-77, and was active in Bethlehem Lutheran Church Women. She was an avid gardener and reader, and enjoyed cooking and baking. After her husband's death in February 1999, Marcella continued to live on the farm for another two years. In September 2001, she moved to the Tuff Village Assisted Living Apartments in Hills as one of the inaugural tenants. In October 2004, she moved to the Tuff Memorial Home in Hills. Marcella enjoyed participating in the Rock County Senior Citizen's Spelling Bee, taking first place in 2003, 2004, and 2011. She is survived by a son, James Paul Theis of Buffalo, New York; a daughter, Susan Kay (Mrs. Willard) Bowne of Sioux Falls; a grandson, Jay Paul Bowne, of Sioux Falls; two sisters-in-law, Julianne Theis and Erna Gullickson; and several nieces and nephews. Marcella was preceded in death by her husband, parents, stepfather and brother, Albert Gullickson.