Olive Marjorie Engen, age 86, of Mabel, Minnesota, died Friday, January 16, 2015, at Tweeten Healthcare in Spring Grove, Minnesota.
Marge was born on December 12, 1928, the daughter of Ernest and Dorthea (Rise) Hagen in a home in Mabel, Minnesota. She was baptized and confirmed at Scheie Lutheran Church in rural Mabel. She grew up north of Mabel where her parents owned and operated the Tawney store and that is where she developed her sweet tooth. Her children and grandchildren loved to hear her stories of growing up there. She attended the Tawny Country School District 9 through 8th grade. She graduated from Mabel High School in 1946 as one of the top students in her class. During her years in school, she was the editor of the Wildcat Yearbook, on the newspaper staff, a class officer, in various thespian groups and was a member of numerous musical ensembles. After graduation, she went on to become the school secretary of Mabel High School.
Margie loved to dance and met her future husband, Arne O.K Engen at a firemen’s dance at Matter’s Ballroom in Decorah, Iowa. They were married in a double wedding ceremony with classmate, Evelyn Narum, and Arne’s friend, Odell Johnson, on August 31, 1948. They spent all of their married life in Mabel. Early in their marriage they owned and operated Engen Grocery for a short time. Her number one priority was to be a loving wife and mother, exhibiting patience and sacrifice for her family. The door to their home was always open to anyone including those who were alone on holidays. She enjoyed gardening, canning and cooking delicious meals for her family who gathered at the table nightly.
Marge continued to use her secretarial skills, working side by side with her husband and later her son, Jeff, as secretary/bookkeeper of Engen Construction Company for 40-plus years.
Marge was a member of Mabel First Lutheran Church, Ladies Aide, Lydia Circle and also a member of the V.F.W. Ladies Auxiliary. She volunteered as a Gray Lady at Green Lea Manor Nursing Home, used her secretarial skills at the blood mobile and was a Cub Scout leader. After their children were grown, Marge and Arne took up golf and during that time she got two holes-in-one. Marge enjoyed weekly golf outings withher friends where she also played cards and shook dice. She and Arne wintered in Texas for 30 years, where they enjoyed warm weather, golfing, and meeting new friends. An important part of Marge’s daily routine was walking. In her later years, she loved spending time with family, sharing snacks of Cheetos, chocolate and root-beer, watching the game show and the food networks, listening to music, reading daily devotions and going for rides in the car. One of the traits her grandchildren loved most about her was her sense of humor and making her laugh.
Marge is survived by her three children, Jeffrey (Susan) Engen, Spring Grove; Peggy (Craig) Martin, Beaver Dam, Wisconsin; and Wendy (Fred) Hauser, Appleton, Wisconsin; nine grandchildren, Peter (Grace) Engen, La Crosse, Wisconsin; Emily (Dominic) Ricci, Denver, Colorado; Leah (Ben) Koehler, Dubuque, Iowa; Travis Martin, Nashville, Tennesee; Tyler Martin, Minneapolis; Bethany Martin, Boiling Springs, North Carolina; Hilary (Joshua) Dummer, Onalaska, Wisconsin; Jordan Hauser, New York, New York; and Jens Hauser, Chicago, Illinois; seven great-grandchildren, Athen Engen Viner, Ivy and Maya Engen, Fletcher Ricci, Dexter Koehler, Isabela Waters and Olivana Dummer; brother, Everett (Doris) Hagen; and nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Arne, on September 29, 2013; her parents; and sister, Verna Erickson.
Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. on Saturday, January 24 at Mabel First Lutheran Church in Mabel. Burial will be in the Mabel Lutheran Cemetery. Visitation will be 4 to 7 p.m. Friday, January 23 at the Mengis Funeral Home in Mabel and one hour prior to the services at the church. The family prefers that the memorials be designated to the Arne & Marge Engen Memorial Scholarship Fund at the Mabel-Canton High School in Mabel.