Genevieve (Gen) Carolyn Marpe, 82, of San Diego, formerly of Freeborn, died Saturday, June 20, 2009, at Sharp Lakeview Hospice Home of congestive heart failure.
Genevieve Stensrud was born on Oct. 5, 1926, in West St. Paul. She married Roland Marpe on June 15, 1946. The couple then moved to Freeborn. Gen was a homemaker while raising her family and was very involved with the Freeborn Community Church and School. She loved cooking, baking, decorating her home, and entertaining guests. When her children were older, she worked at the Added Touch Gift Shop in Albert Lea before becoming a real estate agent. She and her husband retired in San Diego in 1986. They enjoyed the warm weather and their garden. They were also very involved with their daughter Kathy’s women’s basketball team at the University of San Diego. Roland passed away in December 1998. In 1999, Gen found a new life companion in her dog Sunny; they were inseparable until her passing.
She is survived by one sister, Edith Hanson of West St. Paul; two sons: Donald (Bonnie) of New Orleans, La., and Thomas (Cathy) of Rochester; and two daughters: Kathleen of San Diego and Debra (Bert) Harr of Bend, Ore.; five grandchildren: Tory, Carly, Kirk, Meghan, and Mikayla. She was preceded in death by her husband, Roland; her parents, Maude and Peter; and her siblings: Herman, Sylvia, Otto, and Bill.
A family service will be held at a later date.