Marval Williams Obituary (1907

Marval Williams, 105, of Oelwein, Iowa died on Monday morning, December 17, 2012 at Mercy Living Plus in Oelwein, Iowa. Funeral Service: 10:30 A.M. on Saturday, December 22, 2012 at the Grace United Methodist Church in Oelwein, Iowa; Officiating: Rev. Connie Markle; Visitation: from 3:00 P.M. to 6:00 P.M. on Friday at the Jamison-Schmitz Funeral Home in Oelwein and after 9:30 A.M. at the church on Saturday; Interment: Woodlawn Cemetery at Oelwein, Iowa. Memorials may be given in her name to the Shriners Crippled Children in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Marval Fern was born on October 1, 1907 at Waterloo, Iowa, the daughter of Leo and Mae (Russell) Fern. She attended Louisa May Alcott School in Waterloo, Iowa and graduated from Waterloo East High School in 1925. Marval received a degree in secondary education with an emphasis in history from Iowa State Teachers College (UNI) in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Following graduation, she taught history at Morning Sun, Iowa for four years. It was there that she met Churchill T. Williams, a basketball, baseball coach and instructor. Marval and Church were married on July 27, 1942 and Church left for action in the Pacific Theater in World War II. Marval resided at Edwards Air Force Base in California and worked for the American Red Cross in Muroc, California processing wounded soldiers coming from overseas. Marval and Church returned to Dallas Center, Iowa in 1944 and moved to Oelwein in 1945. She had an opportunity to travel through Church's banking and American Legion associations and one of her highlights was a bankers meeting to Russia in 1970. In the early 1970's, Marval and Church attended the Republican National Convention in Miami Beach, Florida. They also had the opportunity to have dinner and an evening at the White House. Marval was an avid reader and had served on several committee's at the Oelwein Public Library. She was a member of Grace United Methodist Church, United Methodist Women, American Legion Auxiliary, P.E.O., Tuesday Tourist Club, Order of the Eastern Star Oelwein Chapter # 45, and the Shrine Auxiliary. Marval's mother died at the age of 102. Marval and Church were strong supporters of Oelwein in many ways including college scholarships and the Williams Center. She has been a resident of Mercy Living Plus since December of 2002. Marval is survived by: Nieces--Catherine (Frank) Ciccarelli of Dearborn Heights, Michigan. She was preceded in death by her Parents (Leo and Mae Fern)--Husband (Churchill T. Williams on November 15, 2005)--Sister (Grace McCullough) and a Brother (Robert Fern).