Mary Ann Welden

Mary Ann Welden, 76, of Remsen, Iowa passed away Monday, August 29, 2016 at her home in Remsen.

Funeral services will be held at 10:00 A.M. Thursday, September 1, 2016 at Meyer Brothers Colonial Chapel with Reverend Jill Clem officiating.  Visitation will be Wednesday from 4-8 P.M. with the family present from 6-8 P.M. at the funeral home.  Burial will be at 11:00 A.M. Friday, September 2, 2016 at the Tabor City Cemetery in Tabor, Iowa.  Online condolences may be given at www.meyerbroschapel.com. 

Mary Ann was born November 29, 1939, at Jennie Edmundson Hospital in Council Bluffs, IA, the daughter of E.S. and Dorothy (Shenton) Newlon.  She graduated from Tabor High School in 1958.  Mary Ann attended Nebraska Wesleyan University and majored in music education.  She then transferred and graduated from the University of Oklahoma in January 1963.  Mary Ann was a founding member of the PhiMu Sorority at the University.  She obtained her Master’s Degree from the University of South Dakota in 1980.  Her first teaching job was in Nevada, IA and then transferred to Ottumwa, IA where she taught in the Ottumwa Community School District for 34  years.

Mary Ann was active in the United Methodist Church her entire life, and where she met her husband Jim Welden.  They married on August 5, 1967 in Tabor, IA.  In 1971 she gave birth to her only child Marcy Ann.  The family resided in Ottumwa until 1994 when they relocated to Vermillion, SD and later to Sioux City to be active grandparents. 

Throughout Mary Ann’s adult life she participated in the Sisterhood of P.E.O, and was a lifelong member, earning her 50-year pin in 2010.  As a member, she served at President, Vice President, and other offices many times and at the state level.  Mary Ann was also a lifelong member of the United Methodist Church and an organist for over 40 years.  Jim and Mary Ann were very proud and active grandparents to Emily Ann and Ethan Andrew.

She is survived by her husband Jim; daughter Marcy and husband Bradley Kollbaum; and by two grandchildren Emily Ann and Ethan Andrew. Mary Ann was preceded in death by her parents.