Marian Townsend Obituary, Death – Marian Townsend, age 97, died peacefully on December 4, 2022. In the comfort of her own home, she was surrounded by relatives. Marian Martin was born in White County, Indiana, on April 4, 1925, to the late Merle and Anna Marie (Dempster) Martin. Marian attended a one-room schoolhouse as a child, where she honed her acute aural and visual learning abilities. She put these abilities to good use in her lifelong quest for knowledge. She was a self-taught specialist on Native American history and artifacts, and she could identify and duplicate hundreds of bird cries, as well as plants and other species. She enjoyed traveling and went to Israel at the age of 76.
Marian was recognized for her independent and adventurous personality, which she used to share her amazing love for the Lord with everyone she met. She learnt to appreciate her life as an Upland farm wife, taking country walks, listening to birds, appreciating nature, and working hard with her husband in farm operations. Oak Chapel UMC Women of Great Faith, Upland Mennonite Church (now Upland Community Church) and mission board, Grant County Homemakers Association, Girl Scout leader, Audubon Society, Asherwood Nature Center, White River Archeology Association, Wandering Wheels ministry, and Mississinewa 1812 charter member are among her honors and affiliations.
In April 1959, she married George Oren Townsend, and the couple moved to the Upland farm. Marian and Tom and Judy Mallet had four children: Janice L. Kinder, Linda L. (Daniel J.) Lincoln, and Oren G. Townsend (Mark DiPaolo). Her proudest success was seeing her ten grandchildren and fifteen great-grandchildren. She reared her family with God’s love and dedication. Her parents, Merle and Anna Marie Martin; husband, George; daughter, Marcella Mallet; son-in-law, Gregory Kinder; four brothers, Merle, Hugh, Jack, and Dempster Martin; and two sisters, Nancy Martin and Carol Schroeder, predeceased her. The Jones-Smith Chapel of Armes-Hunt Funeral Home and Cremation Services, 259 North Main Street, Upland, Indiana 46989, has been entrusted with arrangements, and a visitation will be held on Thursday, December 8, 2022, from 12:00 – 2:00 p.m. Dr. Ed Meadors will officiate at the funeral service, which will begin at 2:00 p.m.