Funeral services for Marjorie Elston, 90, of Guthrie Center, formerly of Perry, will be 10:30am Tuesday at the Bagley United Methodist Church, Bagley, Iowa.  Friends may call at Slininger-Rossow Funeral Home in Jefferson from 9am – 9pm Monday, where the family will visit with friends from 6:30 – 8:00pm Monday.

Marjorie G. (Marge) Elston was born May 22, 1917 to Sherman and Gertrude (Eakins) Swaim at Blakesburg, IA.  After farming for several years, they moved to Des Moines where Marge graduated from North Nigh School.  She worked with her mother at a garment factory for a couple years before leaving home.

During part of the war, she worked in the shipyards in Bremerton, WA.  She met and married Ivan Elston and settled in Laramie, WY where he worked on the railroad.  While living there they adopted their daughter, Carol.

They moved to Perry, Iowa, built a new home and soon had two sons, Maurice (Maury) and Scott.  Marge was forced to go to work after Ivan died in 1960.  She worked at Spurgeon’s for a while, then went to work at Woodward State Hospital.  She worked there for 17 years until an injury forced her to retire.

She moved to Dawson in 1962, living there until son Scott was killed in a gas explosion in 1967.  She met George Loter during this time and lived with him until his death in 2001.  After Scott’s death they moved to Osceola.  In 1981 they were flooded out and then moved to New Virginia.

When their health began to fail they moved back to Perry in 2000.  In November 2001, after George’s death, she took up residence at the Bayard Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.  When that facility closed she moved to Guthrie Center.

She passed away Friday, November 9, 2007 at The New Homestead in Guthrie Center after a short illness.  She was preceded in death by her parents; husband Ivan; husband George; son Scott; and sisters Irene, Doris and Ruth; and one great-grandson.

She is survived by daughter, Carol and her husband Dennis Cain, of Bagley; son, Maurice (Maury) and his wife Joanne, of Moultrie, GA.  Also surviving are eight grandchildren: Jackie (Mrs. Larry) Silbaugh of Jefferson; Sean Elston of Jamaica; Chris Cain of New Hampton; Dr. Kim Neuharth of Panora; Curt and wife Karla of Guthrie Center; Nikki (Mrs. Trey) Weeks of Moultrie, GA; Erick Elston stationed with the Marines in South Carolina; and Andy Elston stationed in Cuba.  She is also survived by one brother-in-law, Ret. Lt. Col. Ralph Fowler of Floresville, TX; as well as many nieces, nephews, and friends.

Memorials may be given to the New Homestead Building Project.