Donna Mae Marquett

Donna M. Marquett, 88, of Tipton, died Tuesday, January 19, 2016 in Methodist Hospital in Des Moines. Funeral services will be held on Friday, January 22, 2016, 10:30 am, Fry Funeral Home, Tipton. Burial will follow in the Tipton Masonic Cemetery. Visitation will be from 5:00 to 7:00 pm on Thursday at Fry Funeral Home. Online condolences may be shared at www.fryfuneralhome.com. A memorial will be established in her memory for the Tipton United Methodist Church. The daughter of Forrest Birk and Ella Augusta Willer, she was born on June 4th, 1927 in the family farm house east of Tipton. She attended Tipton consolidated school and graduated in 1945. She went on to communication school in Lincoln, NE, where she was selected to attend classes in Chicago and then employed by United Airlines. She returned to Tipton due to family illness and was employed by the Tipton Conservative. Donna was married to Wes Marquett in an evening ceremony on August 17th, 1947 at the First United Methodist Church. They lived in Solon for a few years where Wes managed a hatchery and feed store returning to Tipton to help on the family farm. They welcomed a daughter, Sharlene in 1949 followed by a son, Gary in 1953. She was a homemaker for years until employed by the Tipton School as a secretary then went on to be the bookkeeper at West Side Farm Supply that was managed by Wes. For several years they ran a very successful business and were able to enjoy traveling. In 1986 when the business was forced to close and not finding employment in Tipton was not working, Donna decided at the age of 60 to go back to school. She attended Kirkwood College in Cedar Rapids to study Computer Operations. At the completion of her courses she was named Outstanding Student and was hired as a senior clerk at ACT in Iowa City. Later she was employed by Mod Pod, Inc., a real estate and property management business until 1999. Donna was past president of the Stinocher Unit American Legion Auxiliary, Solon; Past Noble Grand of the Helping Hand Rebekah Lodge, Tipton; member of Maltese Cross Circle of Kings Daughter's; and a member of Gary Whalen Unit of American Legion Auxiliary, Tipton. At the time of her death she was a current member of the Tipton United Methodist Church and the Tipton Senior Center. She is survived by her daughter Sharlene Elwell of Richland Center, Wisconsin and son, Gary Marquett of Clive, Iowa. She was preceded in death by her parents and her husband in 1998.