Marlene Bentz Weatherly Rowell

On November 21st 2024, Marlene passed away peacefully in her sleep at the Creekside Senior Living Center in Bountiful, UT.

Marlene was born on December 15, 1930 in Wilmington, CA to Claude M. Bentz and Vilate LeCheminant. She had an older brother Marvin and a younger brother Jimmy who both preceded her in death. Marlene also has two half-brothers: Greg and Jeff, and a half-sister Joyce who survive her. Marlene grew up near Long Beach, CA and moved during her high school years to the Philippines where her family lived after World War II. 

Marlene attended 'The American School' where she had a special educational and cultural experience. Marlene stayed in touch with many of her classmates throughout her life. Marlene loved animals and she had a pet monkey while living in the Philippines. Marlene played professional basketball in the Philippines. 

Marlene's mother died in her arms when Marlene was 17 years old. About the time of her mom's death, her father was moving his business to Alaska to start the North Star Terminal and Stevedore Company. Her father decided to split up the kids. Marvin was already attending college in California, Marlene was sent to California to live with her father's brother and Jimmy was sent to live with relatives in Murray, UT.

Marlene married James R. Weatherly in 1950. Jim was in the military for two years and they lived in Texas and Hayward, CA. After his honorable discharge, they moved to Ventura, CA, Jim's home town, and lived there their entire married life. Marlene and Jim had two children: Teri (Michael Thompson) and Todd, and she has 8 grandchildren: TJ (Vicki), Todd (Laura), Tawni, Aly, Molly, Brynlee, Anna (Justin Cline), and Lori (Austin Murray). She has 8 great-grandchildren: Bentz, Jett, Atlas, Taylor, Olivie, Bowen, Mason, Hayden. In Ventura, Marlene worked as a fashion model, a California State Inheritance Tax consultant, and was the director of the California Consumer Credit Counselling office in Ventura. Marlene was very active and played tennis and Bridge throughout her life. Marlene and Jim divorced in 1984.

In 1988, she married H. Lee Rowell and moved to Corona Del Mar, CA. Lee and Marlene lived near the ocean. Marlene played Tennis and Bridge at the Balboa Racket Club. They had wonderful life there with great friends and neighbors, they loved. After Lee retired in 2002, they moved to Utah. They purchased a home in Layton, UT only a few blocks away from her daughter, Teri. Lee passed away in 2014. In 2015, Marlene had a heart attack while working in her yard. Remarkably, she received a stint within an hour of her attack and she recovered and resumed her active life. She moved in with Michael and Teri in 2015. In 2019, the whole family moved to Bountiful, UT.

Marlene continued to play Bridge. She played one or two days each week at the Ogden Country Club. She retired from Bridge at age 91 and cherished her Bridge friends.

Marlene (aka Nana) was an extra-ordinarily fun grandma where she is known to have slept in a tree house and watched TV up in the trees with the kids and the crickets. She was always involved with their sports, music, dance, and theatre. She loved taking them to the movies where they would binge on multiple movies in a day. When Nana was around, there was a lot of fun to be had.

After breaking her hip in 2022 and after several weeks of recovery in a skilled nursing facility, she moved to the Creekside Senior Living Center in early 2023. At Creekside, she met wonderful residents and staff members.

There will be a memorial service for Marlene on Wednesday, December 11, 2024 at 11:00 am at the LDS chapel at 1800 Mueller Park Road, Bountiful, UT 84010. She was buried on December 6th at the Ivy Lawn Cemetery in Ventura, CA. The family is planning on a separate celebration of life in Ventura in the spring of 2025.