Obituary: Marvis Malinda Westerberg, 85

Marvis Malinda (Guhlke) Westerberg died of pneumonia at the age of 85 on Feb. 23, 2013, surrounded by family on Saturday at N.C. Little Hospice.

Westerberg was born on Jan. 15, 1928. She and her husband Bill settled in Burnsville in 1963. She was devoted member of Lutheran Church of the Ascension for 45 years.

"Marvis was our beautiful matriarch and loving mother, who would be as comfortable picking corn or sewing a prom dress, as she would be gracefully preparing a dinner for twenty (that could feed fifty of course)," her family writes. "An exceptional an knowledgable gardener, her fondest pastime was feeding and watching the song birds she attracted to her back yard feeders." 

She is survived by her beloved husband of 62 years, William; loving son Daniel (Paula), daughter Susan White, daughter Sally (and partner Brenda Pagel), daughter Sarah (Chris); Grandkids, Jonathan, Elizabeth, Cooper, Riley and Cole; devoted sister, Nathalie Christensen; beloved best friend and niece Madalynn "Maddy" Ronning, and her constant companion, Henry, her 16 pound Norwegian forest cat.

Visitation will take place at Lutheran Church of the Ascension on Thursday, February 28, 2013 from 10 a.m. to 11:30. A funeral service will be held at 11:30, with luncheon following. Internment will take place at Acacia Park Cemetery. Memorials to the church are preferred.