Marcia Stephas

In Loving MemoryMarcia StephasMay 28, 1939 - November 9, 2022

VISITATIONMonday, November 14, 202210:00 - 11:00 AMUnited Methodist ChurchRoyal, Iowa

SERVICEMonday, November 14, 202211:00 AMUnited Methodist ChurchRoyal, IowaCLERGYPastor Al Grigg

INTERMENTRiverside CemeterySpencer, Iowa

Marcia Stephas was born in Spencer, Iowa, on May 28, 1939, to Harry Chris Schoer and Esther Virginia (Santage). She grew up on a farm in the Royal area and graduated from Gillett Grove High School in 1957. On September 8, 1957, she married her lifetime husband Roger Jack Stephas in Gillett Grove, and they had four wonderful children: Rodney Stephas (Sherri,), Spencer, Iowa; Lea Ann Prentice (Dan), Broomfield, Colorado; Shelly Holmberg (Joe), Stillwater, Minnesota; Kristi Stephas (Chris), Truckee, California. Marcia and Roger also have 8 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

Marcia took great pride in being a farmer’s wife. For Marcia and Roger, farm life was their way of life from the beginning. They raised crops and livestock on land owned south of Spencer outside of Royal. 

People have remarked that Marcia is one of the nicest people who have ever existed. She is simply kind and loving and caring without pretension. She grew up under some challenging circumstances, and as a teen, she knew she had a choice to make. Asked years ago how she got to be so nice, she said, “I had to decide whether I was going to be good or bad. I chose good. I chose love.”

Marcia always had an open door for neighbors, her brother Ossie, children and grandchildren and anyone they brought along. No matter the number of unexpected guests who arrived, Marcia always had plenty of food for everyone, often somehow one’s favorite, and somehow she made each person feel like her favorite. Being in her home, one always felt welcome and comfortable.

Church life was also a valued part of Marcia’s life. She and Roger were an integral part of the United Methodist Church in Royal, volunteering and providing food for the gatherings that followed service. Her children remember almost every Sunday going to church followed by trips to Grandpa Edwin and Grandma Theo’s. These were days set aside for family when farm work was set aside.

Besides working on the farm, Marcia was a valued employee over the years, including her role as Manager of Old Home Bread in Spencer, as well as jobs at Fire and Casualty Insurance and Farm Bureau Insurance. Marcia loved to travel extensively to visit her kids and their kids. She loved backpacking, horseback riding, and fishing; playing cards and board games; watching baseball and basketball on TV (she was a great athlete in high school); heating up food and making potato salad; drinking coffee and chatting and listening.

As much as Marcia loved farm life, she grew to love and appreciate Lost Island Lake, where evening boat rides and sunsets over the water were regular occurrences. Marcia understood that lake life gave her and Roger a fresh way to provide endless hours of joy and exhilaration to the children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren who would visit. 

Marcia was about farm life. She was about lake life. But most of all, Marcia was about family life. She chose good, she chose love, and she loved. A hand-written note Marcia tucked in her papers not long ago reads: “God Is Good. He will take care of you.”

Arrangements by Martin-Mattice Funeral Home