Marlys H. Melsted, 74, formerly of Albert Lea, died Saturday, Jan. 19, 2013, at Sanford Hospital in Sioux Falls, S.D., from numerous complications following surgery last October. A visitation will be from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Miller Funeral Home in Sioux Falls. Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls, with another visitation one hour prior to the service from 1 to 2 p.m. at the church.

Born May 20, 1938, to William and Mabel Mixdorf in Waterloo, Iowa, Marlys was the fifth child in a family of six. She grew up in Waterloo and graduated from Waterloo West High School in 1956. She studied choral music and organ at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa. Prior to her marriage, she served as a parish worker in Houston, Texas, and Eau Claire, Wis., and as a secretary for the Department of Parish Education for the American Lutheran Church in Minneapolis. She met Marino S. Melsted at Holden Village in Chelan, Wash., in 1965, and they were married in Minneapolis on April 16, 1966. They resided in Ridgecrest, Calif., where Marlys directed both voice and handbell choirs at Grace Lutheran Church and sang in the Cerro Coso Community College Choir. Marlys had three children — Lisa, Nathan and Margretta (Gretta). In 1981, the family moved to Dubuque, Iowa, where her husband attended Wartburg Seminary. Marlys and Marino also lived in Albert Lea where Marino served as minister and Marlys served as choral director and secretary at East Freeborn Lutheran Church, and in Lakota, Iowa, before moving to Sioux Falls in 2011. Son Nathan and daughter Gretta were both graduates of Albert Lea High School, and daughter Lisa and son Nathan were both formerly employed at the Albert Lea Tribune.

Marlys was a lifelong lover of music and books. She enjoyed numerous crafts throughout her life, including sewing, knitting and counted cross-stitch. She played both the piano and organ in addition to being a soprano soloist and choral director.

Marlys is survived by her husband, Marino, Sioux Falls; daughter Lisa Melsted, Oakland, Calif.,; son Nathan, daughter-in-law Ahree Lee and granddaughter Mia of Mountain View, Calif.; daughter Margretta (Gretta); son-in-law Dan Van Schepen; grandson Matthew of Sioux Falls. She is also survived by her brother William Mixdorf, Cedar Falls, Iowa; sister Ruth and brother-in-law Fred White, Cedar Falls; sister Margaret Swanson, Waverly, Iowa; brother Frank and sister-in-law Carol Mixdorf, New Glarus, Wis.; as well as numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents and her sister, Mary Lou Blobaum.