Marilyn Trefzger

BLOOMINGTON - Marilyn Lestilie Wilson Trefzger, 85, of Bloomington, Ill., died at 5:52 a.m. Monday, Aug. 30, 2010, at Advocate BroMenn Medical Center in Normal, Ill.

Her funeral will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at First Christian Church in Bloomington with the Rev. James Warren officiating. Burial will follow at Park Hill Cemetery in Bloomington. Visitation will be from 3 to 8 p.m. Friday at the church.

Memorials may be made to First Christian Church, 401 W. Jefferson St., Bloomington, IL 61701 or Eureka College in Eureka, Ill.

Calvert & Metzler Memorial Home in Bloomington is in charge of arrangements.

Mrs. Trefzger was born Jan. 5, 1925, in Peoria, Ill., the daughter of Richard Wallace and Lena Florence Jones Wilson.

She attended public schools in Peoria, graduating from Woodruff High School in 1942. She attended Bradley University, Eureka College and Illinois State University, where she received a B.S. in education with high honors. She took graduate study at Lexington (Ky.) Theological Seminary and Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis.

She married the Rev. Dr. John D. Trefzger, June 9, 1946, in Glen Oak Christian Church in Peoria.

They have three sons, Dr. Richard (Nancy) and Robert (Connie) of Bloomington and James (Dorothy) of Champaign, Ill. There are six grandchildren, Emily (Magdiel) Campos, Sarah and Paul Trefzger of Bloomington, Michael Trefzger of Hollywood, Calif., Amy (Michael) Curry of Grayslake, Ill., and John R. Trefzger of Champaign, Ill. There are nine great-grandchildren, Noah and Jenna Benzing, Sabrina and Charlie Campos, Connor and Oliva Crawford and Octavio, Julian and Alan Campos.

After their marriage, John and Marilyn decided to study for the Christian ministry. After John finished seminary in 1951, John served as Senior Pastor of First Christian Church, Waukegan for seven years, First Christian Church Bloomington, Ill., for 16 years, First Christian Church, South Bend, Ind., for seven years and First Christian Church, Bloomington, Ind., for four years. They returned to Bloomington to both serve on the regional staff of the Christian Church in Illinois and Wisconsin for five years.

Marilyn taught U.S. history at Bloomington High School, 1969-1973, and for the next seven years taught social science in South Bend, Ind., high schools.

In 1984, Mrs. Trefzger was called to be an associate regional minister of the Christian Church in Illinois and Wisconsin with offices in Bloomington. She was commissioned a Christian Church minister. She retired from that position in 1989.

Marilyn gave active leadership in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) on the local, regional, and national levels. She wrote several study guides for women of the Christian Church and has published articles in newspapers and national religious journals.

Since her retirement, she has written church school curriculum for children, youth and adults. She is the author of Unity, Liberty, Charity; a study book on the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). As a member of the Cursillo Community, she served as clergy on numerous Cursillo teams. For a number of years the Trefzgers led world tours with emphasis on understanding cultures: their history and religious practices, while establishing bridges through personal friendships. In 1973 they led the first group tour of Bloomington-Normal's sister city in Asahikawa, Japan.

Online condolences may be emailed at www.calvertmemorial.com.