Marilyn Irene Christman

Marilyn I. Christman, age 89 of Meadow, passed away on Monday, March 25, 2019 at the Sturgis Regional Senior Care in Sturgis, SD.
    Cremation has taken place and a Memorial Service will be held at 11:00am  Saturday, April 6, 2019 at Spencer Memorial Presbyterian Church in Lemmon. Later that day (around 4:30 pm), the family will gather at Smoky’s to share memories and celebrate a life well-lived. All are welcome to join us.
    Marilyn was born February 17, 1930, in Iola, Kansas to James and Ethel (Kaptsch)  Starr. She was raised on the Starr farm near Meadow with brief stints back to Kansas when she and her mother would make extended visits with family and in California while her father looked for work during the depression. She attended Meadow Central and Lemmon High School; and after one year at the University of South Dakota she was snatched up by Art Christman who claims he got the prettiest girl in the county.
     Marilyn and Art started a family and lived in several places – Lemmon, Rapid City, a trailer on her parents’ farm - before finally settling in the Stillman house across from the post office in Meadow. As was common then, Marilyn gave the kids baths in a washtub in the kitchen because there was no bathtub in the house and she washed the cloth diapers in a wringer washer. After Marilyn’s father passed, she and Art traded houses with her mom and moved out to the farm. Eventually they built a new house that was a testament to Marilyn’s creativity and hard work: she designed the floor plan, finished all the woodwork, painted, wallpapered, sewed curtains, refinished the old bedroom furniture, etc. She always said she loved cleaning that house and clean it she did - it was immaculate.
     In addition to raising five children Marilyn stayed busy with a variety of outside interests: she was active in the Meadow Presbyterian Church and Circle, serving as Elder and Deacon and playing piano (taking over for her mother) every Sunday for nearly thirty years; she hauled the rural mail, drove the school bus, and took the census; she served on the Meadow School Board and was active in the Domesti-Kates Extension Club; she shuttled her children to 4-H, church, and school activities; she kept abreast of local, state, and national politics and was a life-long Democrat. Throughout the years, she kept a large garden and canned everything imaginable, including her world-famous dill pickles. As part of the large Christman family she and her sisters-in-law put on a feast every Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter.
     Marilyn was an excellent seamstress and sewed Christmas and Easter dresses for her daughters every year - and later for her granddaughters – and suit jackets for her sons. She was always trying new hobbies - crocheting, knitting, needlepoint, crewel, cross-stitch, ceramics, macramé, etc. - but once she discovered quilting all else was set aside. She made beautiful quilts for herself and her children and grandchildren, and for friends and their children and grandchildren. She was active in quilting club and completed one of her last and most difficult quilts just four years ago.
     In their younger days, Marilyn and Art loved to bowl, play Pinochle, and visit with friends and family. Later, she enjoyed crossword puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, and playing board games with her family. When her children convinced her she wasn’t too old to learn to use a computer, she not only bought a computer but mastered the accounting and tax programs that allowed her to conduct the farm business on-line. She eventually graduated to a lap-top, then a Kindle, and later to crushing her grandchildren in Words with Friends on her IPad. And she wasn’t above using her age to gain an advantage in spoons. She enjoyed a good laugh.
     Providing for her family was Marilyn’s life-long joy. She lived on the farm taking care of Art and tending her home and lawn and flower gardens until two years ago when she needed specialized care for Alzheimers. She died March 25 surrounded by family and holding her husband’s hand.
     Survivors include her husband of 69 years, Art, and five children and their families: Jim and Susie Christman of Fontana CA, and Cherie and Callan; Gary and Cymbre Christman of Spearfish SD, and Tiffany (Sebastien Fetchko),  Kyle (Katie), and Evan; Judy and Chuck Lewis of Sturgis SD, and Amy (Trevor Lane and children Charlie and Robbie), Sarah (Jesse Rhoden and children Ladd and Sully Jane), and Ben (Katie and son Graham); Jane Christman and Walter Kingsbery of Boulder CO; Julie and Ron Scott of Glendale AZ, and Amanda (Lance Whitman) and Amelia.
     Memorials have been established with the Meadow Fire Department, Bison Ambulance, and Spencer Memorial Presbyterian Church in Lemmon.  
     Later that day (around 4:30 pm), the family will gather at Smoky’s to share memories and celebrate a life well-lived. All are welcome to join us.
    Condolences may be sent to the family at www.evansonjensenfuneralhome.com.