Obituary of Marilea Ruth Steidel

Marilea Ruth Steidel 78, of Great Falls went to be with her Lord Jesus Sunday, December 23, 2012 at Reston Hospital. She was born August 5, 1934 in Parkersburg, WV to the late Arthur Ray and Anna May Akrom Swiger. Marilea was president of the Pilgrim Fellowship group in the Ireland Congregational Christian church district, a member of Future Homemakers of America, and graduated from Carthage-Troy High School in Coolville OH. Following high school, Marilea moved to the Washington, DC area and began work at the Office of the Judge Advocate General Military Justice Division at the Pentagon in June 1953 as a clerk typist and later as a secretary. A half-corridor and a bit past the corner from her work location was the Patent office where worked a man who started asking her to lunch and subsequently won her heart ... and her hand in marriage on June 11, 1955. After the start of their family, Marilea resigned from the JAG office in 1956 to focus on her new career as a loving mother. As the family grew, they moved a few times within Northern Virginia, joining the communities of Falls Church for over a decade and Great Falls for close to four. Marilea was a Girl Scout leader, and she was a volunteer at the Great Falls Elementary School. She joined the Forestville (now Great Falls) United Methodist Church in 1976 where she sang with the choir and became a member of (and served as a treasurer for) the Betty Clarke Circle. She is survived by her husband Mansfield R. Steidel and their sons and daughters Steven Steidel of Great Falls; Susan Wilson of Reston and grandchildren by the late James Wilson, Ann and William Wilson; Jonathan Steidel of Great Falls; and Lorraine Hollinger (Mark) of Ashburn and grandchildren Andrew and Alison; her sister and brothers Margaret A. Mills of Acworth, GA, David Eugene Swiger (Elizabeth) of Adrian MI, and Donald Swiger (Zaimei) of Coolville, OH; and many nephews and nieces. A memorial service will be held January 19, 2013 at 11:00 AM at the Great Falls United Methodist Church 10100 Georgetown Pike, Great Falls, VA with the Reverend Nancy Childress officiating. Donations may be made in her memory to the Church, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association: http://www.billygraham.org/ or Mark Swiger Ministries: http://markswiger.org/.