Marie Helen Frank, 94, ended her life journey on July 30, 2018, in hospice care in Marshfield. She was born on Dec. 14, 1923, in West Bend, to Carl and Peggy (Ida Marie Hedwig) Steffen.
Growing up, she had no indoor plumbing and was educated in a one-room schoolhouse. She graduated from West Allis Central High in 1940.
Marie lived with her parents, worked as a legal secretary in Milwaukee, and was a member of the Rosicrucian Order until she married Fred W. Frank on a snow-laden Thanksgiving Day in 1947. Together they built a home on Davidson Road in Brookfield, where they raised four children and lived for more than 50 years.
Marie and Fred moved to East Troy in 2006 and Marie moved to Marshfield in 2015.
Marie loved reading and crossword puzzles, family camping trips, the Grand Tetons, birds and wildflowers, the smell of lilacs and lavender, dancing with Fred, and eating limburger cheese and liverwurst sandwiches.
Her cheesecake and nut bread were legendary.
She loved to laugh and always offered a kind, unhurried listening ear for family, friends, neighbors, and total strangers. The many heartfelt notes she wrote are treasured keepsakes. She was the glue that held her family together and will be sorely missed by all who were fortunate enough to cross her path.
Marie is survived by daughter, Rika Marie (John) Schmelzer of Marshfield; granddaughter, Kate Marie Schmelzer; son, Glen Gerald Frank of Alstead, New Hampshire; daughter, Andrea Lynn Frank (Allan McCoy) of Wilson, Minnesota; son, Christopher Lee Frank (Jeanne Chao) of Port Townsend, Washington, and grandchildren, Khloe and Xavier Frank.
She is also survived by nieces and nephews and her precious lifelong friend, Sylvia Johnston. Her beloved husband, Fred, preceded her in death in 2013, and she outlived all her siblings, Ruth Gallun, Bob and Jim Steffen.
Marie was the world’s greatest wife and mother. She had a special love for all children and babies, and believed every child should be wanted and cherished.
Women’s choice and reproductive health were important to Marie.
She died of uterine cancer. According to her wishes, please make contributions in her memory to Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, c/o Development Department, 302 N. Jackson St, Milwaukee, WI 53202.
A celebration of Marie’s life will be from 1 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 26, in the community room of The Heritage senior apartments, 3223 North St. (Highway 20), in East Troy.
Remember me in a meadowlark’s song
And the windswept nod of Queen Anne’s Lace.
Hear my whispers in a forest stream,
And know that I listened, loved, and understood.
