Marilynn Aileen (Beck) Abel was received into heaven on November 20, 2009. She went into Sturgis Regional Hospital on November 13th, entered the Lippold Hospice Suite at Sturgis Regional Hospital on November 19th where she passed away on November 20th. She had Alzheimer's for over 10 years.

Visitation will be 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday at the Kinkade Funeral Chapel with the family present

From 5 p.m. until 7 p.m.

Funeral services will be 1:30 p.m. Monday, at the First Wesleyan Church in Sturgis with Rev. Herbert Cleveland officiating. Burial follows at the Black Hills National Cemetery near Sturgis.

A memorial has been established to the Lippold Hospice Suite at the Sturgis Regional Hospital.

Marilynn was born June 12, 1926, at the family home in Lake Preston, SD. She was the seventh of eight children born to Melvin Howard and Achsa Bell (Nelson) Beck. Marilynn was baptized when she was 19 years old at the United Methodist Church in Lake Preston.

On July 16, 1946, she married Chester Marvin "Chet" Abel at the United Methodist Church in Lake Preston. They lived in Huron for a few years. After waiting five years, they were blessed with their first child, Merwin Chester, born October 24, 1951. The family moved to the Lake Preston area and on November 3, 1953, they had their second child, Connie Aileen.

Besides raising their family through hard times, Marilynn was an LPN at the Lake Preston nursing home for four years, then home care for two years in De Smet. In 1965, they moved to Sturgis. Marilynn did home care in Sturgis for two years before going to work at Ft. Meade in the dietary department. She had worked there about two years when she slipped and hurt her back and couldn't work for a few years. Later, she worked for Anderson Assisted Living.

In 1975, Chet passed away after 3 years battling cancer. In 1976, Marilynn began working for the Sturgis Cleaners and Sewing Center on Main St. until they closed. In 1982, she purchased a home in Sturgis and started her own assisted living home. Marilynn had just payed off the home when she had a stroke in 1991, also the beginning of her Alzheimer's. She moved into an apartment and continued to volunteer at the Ft. Meade Chapel where she greeted veterans every Sunday as she had done since 1975. She later moved into Sturgis Regional Senior Care in 2002. The family says, "Thank you for letting our family used the Hospice Unit. It was like being able to take Mom home."

Marilynn was a member of the DAVA of Sturgis. She volunteered at Foothills Assisted Living (owned by Ron Anderson, whom she considered her second son). Marilynn was also a member of the American Legion Auxiliary and was active in the Meade County Senior Citizen's Center.

She is survived by one daughter, Connie (Harley) Weyer, Sturgis; five grandchildren, Cara Abel-Riker, Rapid City, Justin Abel, Sioux City, IA, Cody (Denise) Weyer, Marcus, SD, Merle Weyer, Vale, SD, and Desiree (Tyler) Hippen, Gillette, WY; eight great-grandchildren, Sebastion Boerke, Shelby Riker, and Charlee Riker, all of Rapid City, Tristen and Trinity Weyer of Marcus, SD, Whitney Weyer, Vale, SD, and Payton and Colton Hippen of Gillette, WY.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; her son, Merwin "Bud" Abel; two brothers, Howard and Merwin Beck; five sisters, Margaret Tschetter, Helen Marie Webster, Leila Bowes, Jean Pederson, and Lois Sass; one great-nephew, Travis Sass, and her mother in-law.