Marilynn Curry

Marilynn Curry, 99, passed away Thursday, June 20, 2024, at Northcrest Community in Ames, Iowa. A memorial service will be August 9, 2024, at 2:00 p.m. in the Grand room at Northcrest Community, 2300 Northcrest Parkway, Ames. A reception will follow. Marilynn Lila Ellis Curry was born January 30, 1925, in Canby, Minnesota, to ...[more]

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rge Carlisle (Carl) Ellis, a barber, and Nellie Maude Beam Ellis, a seamstress. She was raised there with her two brothers, Donald and Robert. She went to college at Macalester in St. Paul and met Bob Curry, who was a student at the University of Minnesota, in the fall of 1944. They met and fell in love on the dance floor, and they married 3 years later on September 8, 1947. They moved a few times. They lived in New Hampton, Iowa where they owned a Coast to Coat Hardware store and both kids, Bill and Carolyn, were born there. Bob took a job selling life insurance for Northwestern National, now called Voya Financial, and they moved to Ames in 1957. Marilynn stayed home and raised their two children for a number of years. She had many interests including sewing, performing in plays for ACTORS, singing in the UCC church choir and directing the youth choir there. She also played the piano and sang with Bob at weddings and other events. In 1971, she was one of the first employees hired at Sundstrand Corporation, now called Danfoss, where she worked for 15 years. She was one of the early members of the Octagon Tappers and enjoyed performing with them at the annual senior show and other events around the area. Marilynn and Bob performed duets in the Heartland Senior Show nine times. They always sang love songs and used the pictures from that event for their Christmas cards. Marilynn Curry was initiated into P.E.O in New Hampton, Iowa in 1954. She joined Ames Chapter KR in 1958 and celebrated 70 years in 2024. Marilynn held several offices in KR, including President, and she was a delegate to the International Convention in Seattle in 1967 and enjoyed her first airplane trip there. Marilynn's sewing capabilities were legendary. It brought her great joy for her whole adult life. She sewed for herself and for her daughter, even into adulthood. During the last years of her life, she did alterations for the residents of Northcrest Community. She ultimately charged everybody $5.00 for her services so they wouldn't bring her food or gifts she didn't really need. Bob and Marilynn moved into a townhouse at Northcrest Community in 2002. They lived there for several years until Bob's ailing health required him to move to healthcare and Marilynn into an independent living apartment in 2006. She lived in #A13 until 2015 when she turned 90 and moved into healthcare herself. The staff at Northcrest took remarkable care of Marilynn during her almost 10-year tenure there and she was very happy. Marilynn was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Bob Curry, and her brothers, Don and Bob Ellis. She is survived by her son, Bill Curry of Ann Arbor, Michigan, her daughter, Carolyn (David) Hakes of Cedar Falls, granddaughters Madelyn (Jenny) Bell of Nashville, Rachel (Patrick) Webert of Seattle, and great grandchildren, Tucker and Lennon Bell. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to Northcrest Community or Ames United Church of Christ. Online condolences may be directed to grandonfuneralandcremationcare.com