Marjorie A. Lendzian's Obituary
Marjorie Ann Rodney was born to parents Anna and Francis (Frank) Rodney on Valentine’s Day, 1932. Her ability to find beauty in simple things, and her love of nature stemmed from spending happy years on the farm in Hillsdale, MI owned by her grandparents, immigrants from Poland in the early 1900’s. Marjorie (“Marge”) often referred to living on the farm as some of the best years of her life. She married John Clifford (Cliff) Dreher at the age of 21 in 1953. Their marriage produced four daughters – Cheryl, Lennise, Jill and Tracy – which Marge would often say were the best things that came out of that union. Her focus during their growing up years in the 50s and 60s, living in a small ranch home in Roseville, was on teaching her daughters to be proper young ladies, until they moved out to a new home in Shelby Township in 1965 when Marge became a working mom in a two wage-earner family, and the focus was on adapting to a new life. Juggling the schedule of four daughters in three different schools, along with the changing attitudes of the 70s, Marge came to the realization there were three things she really disliked – working, cooking and cold weather. She and Cliff moved to Oldsmar, FL, in 1979, escaping the cold forever, and eventually, working outside the home and cooking were things of the past.
After Cliff died at the early age of 52 in 1984, Marjorie found new love when she met Albert Lendzian a few years later. They married in 1992, and they spent the next 25 years as perfect companions to one another until his passing in 2017. Marjorie referred to Al as her true love, and her sorrow at his death took a long time for her to overcome. However, she had the love and support of “her girls” as she called them to carry her through, because family was everything to her. Not one for social gatherings or needing a wide circle of friends, Marjorie found comfort in being with her family, including her girls’ spouses, Brian, Roy, Michael, and Kevin, 12 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren, and Al’s children Bill and Susan, as well as a few close friends.
Marge was a kind and loving woman. She was Mom, and Nana or Grandma, depending on which set of grandkids visited her. She was also very generous, and charities loved her because she read every letter and solicitation that was sent. Marge lived for 92 wonderful years, her life span going from being born during the Great Depression, learning to drive in the 40s, living as a typical housewife in the 50s and 60s with bread delivered to the house by Hap, the Taystee Bread man and milk by the Twin Pines milkman, adapting to a world of change in the 70s, 80s and 90s, and evolving into the amazing technology of the 2000s where even she, at the end, would say “Alexa, what day is today?” Her last triumph recently was passing the eye exam at a doctor’s office after being fitted for corrective lenses so that she could renew her driver’s license.
At 92, Marge was still doing light household chores, laundry, and looking after herself and her sweet dog, Riley, who took over being her constant companion after the loss of her other sweet dog, Ollie. Marge’s home is filled with mementos and articles that brought her joy – family photos, clocks on almost every wall, lighthouses, images of birds, animals and country life, and memorabilia from Al’s years in military service and as a police officer. It is a home filled with love, out in “the country” to complement her love of nature. A visitaion will be held on Monday, March 11 from 12-2pm at Grace Memorial Gardens, followed by an interment.
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