Leora Marzahn, 85, of De Smet, SD, and formerly of Redfield, SD, died Saturday, November 26, 2011 at Good Samaritan Center in De Smet. Her funeral will be Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. at First Congregational United Church of Christ in Redfield. Reverend Tim Fugman will officiate. Burial will be in Graceland Cemetery near Tulare, SD. Visitation will be Tuesday from 1-8:00 p.m. with the family present from 5-7:00 p.m. at Thelen Funeral Home in Redfield. www.thelenfuneralhome.com

Leora was born June 7, 1926 in Garden City, SD to Verner and Florence (From) Colclazier. She lived with her family in Garden City until the age of six when they moved to Laurel, NE. Growing up in Laurel she attended country school, until the family moved back to Garden City, in 1944.
After graduating from high school, she attended Northern State College in Aberdeen, SD to become a teacher. She taught country school at Garden City.
On June 20, 1947 she was united in marriage to Leland (Peter) Marzahn at the Methodist Church in Garden City. The couple resided in Mitchell for a short time prior to moving to Phillip, SD. They returned to the Tulare area to a dairy/poultry farm which they operated for several years. In 1961, they moved to Aberdeen, where Peter was employed as an Insurance Salesman. In 1963 they moved to Eau Claire, Wisconsin and resided until Peter's death in 1969.
After the death of her husband, Leora and her faithful companion, a Boston terrier named Watson, moved to Mitchell, SD to be near her sister Alice, where she lived and worked for several years. She then moved to Redfield, SD in 1977. Leora lived in Redfield for many years and enjoyed card parties, shopping, cooking and visits from family.

She was a member of the First Congregational UCC Church in Redfield.

In 2001, after not recovering from hip surgery, she entered the Beverly Healthcare facility (Golden Living Center) in Redfield. Leora resided at the home until 2009 when she moved to the Good Samaritan Center in De Smet to be closer to her sister.

Grateful for having shared her life are her sister Alice (Delbert) Trebil of De Smet, sister-in-law Geraldine Bonfoey-Colclazier of Aberdeen; nephews: Bruce (Cindy) Trebil of Mitchell, SD; Doug (Rita) Trebil of Artesian, SD; Don Trebil of Sioux Falls, SD; Robert (Roberta) Colclazier and Randy Colclazier both of Redfield; nieces Jill Trebil of De Smet; Nancy (Kervin) Simonson and Debra Geramita both of Aberdeen.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband and a beloved brother Lloyd (Bud) Colclazier.