Marilyn Jean (Swanson) Bodenstedt, 88, of Wayne, died Friday, April 29, 2022 at Avera Sister James Care Center in Yankton, South Dakota.
A memorial ceremony will be held at a later date with arrangements with Hasemann Funeral Home in Wayne, followed by burial at Greenwood Cemetery Wayne.
Marilyn Jean (Swanson) Bodenstedt was born July 4, 1933, near Winside to Oscar and Helen (Norton) Swanson. She attended a Wayne County one-room country school through eighth grade. She graduated from Winside High School in 1950 where she was on the Student Council and Yearbook staff. She attended Wayne State College and received her teaching certificate. She began teaching in rural Wayne County Schools when she was 17. On May 25, 1952 she married Robert Bodenstedt at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Wayne. They lived on the family farm near Carroll,, until moving to Wayne in 1971. Marilyn continued to substitute teach for 11 years after her children were born, and also served as a teacher’s aide in Wayne for 20 years. She was a member of the Retired Teachers Association of Wayne and was a member of Our Savior Lutheran Church in Wayne.
Marilyn gave up full-time teaching to raise her two children, Debra and Steven. She also worked with her husband, Bob, on the farm raising chickens and milking cows. She kept busy gardening and taking lunch to the men in the field. She had a lifetime love of flower gardening, reading, and doing the daily crossword puzzle. She also loved to go fishing with her family or on trips with her sister, Janice, and Janice's husband, George. Once the kids were out of the house, she worked retail jobs in Wayne, and she and Bob delivered flowers for 11 years for the Wayne Greenhouse. She and Bob made frequent trips to Yankton to spend time with Steve and Holly and granddaughter, Lindsay. They also enjoyed attending Lindsay’s dance recitals and sporting events. They traveled to visit to Deb in Virginia, Illinois, Rhode Island, San Diego and Hawaii. They really enjoyed the West Coast road trip with Deb to visit family and high school friends. She was married for 65 years and missed her husband Bob dearly.
Survivors include her children, Deb Bodenstedt of Yankton, South Dakota, and Steve (Holly) Bodenstedt of Yankton, South Dakota; her granddaughter, Lindsay (Tony) Munkvold; and numerous nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Bob, in 2018; brother-in-law, George Jaeger in 2014; and sister, Janice Jaeger in 2021.
