Obituary of Marla Ann McLeland

 

Marla A. (Gustafson) McLeland passed away at the age of 85 at North Memorial Hospital surrounded by her loving family. Marla was born in Hastings, Minnesota on May 18, 1939 to Clifford and Florence (Labonte) Gustafson. She and her family lived in many different homes throughout her childhood and young adult life, residing in Hastings, MN,  New Richmond, WI, Maynard, MN, Garden City, MN, and Auburn, IN, where she graduated from high school in 1957. Marla graduated from Fort Wayne Bible College in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1961 and moved back to Minnesota, living in Minneapolis. Of all the places she lived, Garden City held a special place in her heart and she traveled back often to visit the town and attend class reunions.

After college, Marla went to work in the purchasing department at Honeywell Corporation in Minneapolis where she met Don McLeland and the two were married on February 11, 1966. Don and Marla lived in South Minneapolis and had two children, Pam and Kent, eventually moving to Richfield, Minnesota where they raised their family. The family spent a lot of time together at their cabin in Osakis, Minnesota and took other road trips together too. Marla was a gifted athlete and was an excellent basketball player, tennis player and water skier. She would often be playing tennis with the kids or a game of basketball in the driveway. 

Marla and Don opened up a printing business in 1983 and the two worked for decades together where Marla did the accounting for the company. After retirement, the couple took many trips together and especially enjoyed vacations to the Caribbean and to national parks in the U.S. Something they enjoyed doing together was watching classic movies, researching movie locations, and traveling to those destinations to see where the movies were filmed. Marla would document all of these trips in notes and photos and put them all together in detailed albums that the whole family enjoyed looking at even decades later. 

Family was very important to Marla and the great joy of her life were her grandchildren, Abby and Jack. She spent a lot of time with them as they were growing up and was immensely proud of everything they did. She referred to Abby as her “ladybug” and always told Jack he was “the best of the best.”

Marla was very creative and loved to work on a variety of art and craft projects and would admire the work of others at various craft shows. She was especially good at sewing and needlework and created beautiful cross stitch projects. She sewed clothes for Pam and Kent when they were children and even created an entire wardrobe of clothing for Pam’s Barbie dolls. In later years, Marla continued to work on little projects, painting boxes or making cards and would give them to family as gifts. She sewed doll clothes for Abby and painted race tracks for Jack. She put love into everything she did and would often offer to repair a hole in a pair of jeans, or fix something for her family. Another side to her creativity was her love of writing. Marla was a wonderful historian of her growing up years and her life with her family. She also loved taking pictures and putting together photo albums. She spent time writing memoir stories of various places she lived and would never be without a pen so she could take notes or make a to-do list. Even in the last weeks of her life, she wouldn’t go anywhere without a pen.

Marla had a strong faith in God and was a social person. She enjoyed Bible study at Fort Snelling Memorial Chapel where she and Don were members. She worked on writing visitor cards for the church and loved being a part of a ladies lunch group there. Her Richfield neighbors were some of the special people in her life and she visited with them often on her daily walks. Marla was a wonderful friend and would meet on a regular basis with her best friend Phyllis for coffee and conversation. She will be remembered by her family and her friends for her wit, humor and creativity, her intelligence, her smile, her laugh, her positive attitude and her love. 

The family would like to thank the loving caregivers at Northridge Health and Rehab in New Hope, Minnesota where Marla was recovering from heart surgery.

 

Marla is preceded in death by her husband, Don McLeland, her son, Kent McLeland, and her brother, Gary Gustafson.

She is survived by her daughter, Pam (Bill) Owen, grandchildren, Abby and Jack Owen, Daughter in Law, Michelle McLeland and her brothers; Crandall (Kathie) Gustafson, Clifton (Joy) Gustafson, and Keith Gustafson, as well as numerous nieces and nephews, and extended family and friends.

 

Memorial Service

Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Fort Snelling Memorial Chapel, 1 Tower Ave, Mpls, MN 55450

1:00 pm (visitation at 12:00 pm)

 

Reception

Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Cremation Society of Minnesota, 7110 France Ave S, Edina, MN 55435

2:00 - 4:00 pm