Marcella Amundson

Monday, July 18, 2022 8:02 pm

Marcella Amundson, age 96, of Decorah, passed away on Friday July 15, 2022, at Aase Haugen Senior Services in Decorah. 

Her funeral services will be at 11 a.m. on Thursday, July 21, 2022, at Big Canoe Lutheran Church, 1381 Big Canoe Road, rural Decorah with Rev. Waldemar Gies presiding. Burial will be in the church cemetery at a later date. 

Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, July 20, 2022, at Helms Funeral Home, 604 South Avenue, Decorah and also after 10 a.m. at the church Thursday morning. In lieu of flowers, memorials in her name may be made to Big Canoe Improvement Fund (to be designated later). 

Marcella was born  July 12, 1926, to her parents Alfred Carl and Anna O. (Forde/Nelson) Naley in Kenneth, Minn., Lismore Township. She was baptized at the Kenneth Evangelical Lutheran Church, Kenneth, Minn., by Pastor L. P. Lund. Her confirmation was on Aug.18, 1940, by L.P. Lund at the Emmanuel Luther Church in Lucerne, Minn. 

Alfred and Anna Naley and family moved to a farm six miles south of Adrian, Minn., in the spring of 1928. Marcella attended the rural grade school until grade 3 and then went to the Adrian Public school. Marcella attended high school at the Hopkins High School in Hopkins, Minn., graduating on June 2, 1944. She stayed with her dad’s sister Emma and Uncle Wilford Kappauf to finish high school when in 1943 her parents moved to a farm in Decorah, Iowa as there was no bus service from the farm to the Decorah school system. 

Marcella (Marcy) Naley worked for two years at the Swedish Hospital in Minneapolis, Minn., before moving home to Decorah. She worked two years at the Priscilla Shop for Effie Lovestun and Violet Amundson. 

On Nov. 19,1948 she married Lester Eugene Amundson at the Big Canoe Lutheran Church by Rev. W.T. Hexon. Lester and Marcy farmed the Amundson Farm until Lester’s death on Feb. 5, 1983. A few years later, Marcy moved to an apartment in Decorah and spent time working at the Luther College Book Store, Decorah Cleaners Inc, MG Jewelry and at the Decorah Furniture Co. 

Marcy always enjoyed communicating with the college students and the general public. Hobbies included sewing, singing, participating in church and community activities, baking and making lefse. Her grandchildren often visited when she moved to Decorah and found her home welcoming for snacks/meals after school and overnight stays. She was also loved by her many nieces and nephews who remember spending time on the farm for special occasions and overnight stays. 

Marcella is survived by her children Sandra Kaye (Charles) Jacobowitz of West Bloomfield, Mich., Loren Eugene (Connie) Amundson of Decorah, and Marilyn Jean (Ronald) Fulsaas of Ridgeway; grandchildren: Aaron (Leticia) Jacobowitz, NY, NY; Lesley Jacobowitz (Kevin Hung) NY, NY; Laura (Alex) Smith of Decorah; Matthew (Taylor) Amundson of Decorah; Anna (Tor) Oksnevad of Crystal, Minn.; Amanda (Jared) Rude of Decorah; Sarah (Lance) Loney of Kaumakani, HI; Ryan (Bre) Fulsaas of Rosemount, Minn.; Randy (Heidi) Fulsaas of Farmington, Minn.; Rachel Fulsaas (Jon Geisinger) of Hopkins, Minn.; great-grandchildren: Bennett, Barrett, Brandt and Signy Smith; Cason, Holden and Hallie Amundson; Lillian and Lyla Rude; Leif, Elling and Henrik Oksnevad; Grace, Luke, Blake and Grant Fulsaas; Brody, Kenzie and Bentley Fulsaas; sister-in-Law, Charlotte Naley; and several nieces and nephews. 

Marcella was preceded in death by her husband, Lester Eugene Amundson; her parents, Alfred and Anna Naley; siblings, Merlin and Jeanette, Leland and Edith, Ellen Naley, Jan and Ken Baran and Elwood Naley; in-laws: Thea and Walter Stoen, Alvin and Marian/Lucy Amundson, James and Clare Amundson, Alfred and Agnes Amundson, Norman and Beulah Amundson, Ellen and Lester Ellingson and Thelma and Edwin Overholt 

The family would like to thank Aase Haugen Senior Services and Winneshiek Medical Center Hospice for their care and support.