Rosella Marshall

January 20, 1920 - August 13, 2020

It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Rosella Marshall. She passed in the early morning of August 13, 2020 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Born in Tulare, South Dakota to Fredrick and Hannah (Brugger) Wendland, Rosella lived life to the fullest for over 100 years. During the Great Depression, she was in her teens and saw and felt the poverty of everyone including her family. Her mother noticed that the flour came in cotton sacks and when empty, she would refashion the bags into clothes for themselves and the children. Rosella and her mother took in washing and ironing during the 1930’s to earn some money. The family never had a car, so her father had to walk to the grain elevator and carry sacks of coal home. The eggs from the chickens provided some food so the family could eat. Rosella attended Tulare School and graduated in 1938. Rosella met her future husband, Glendon Dilley, during their high school years and they courted for four years. Glendon had to walk three miles from his parent’s farm each time he wanted to visit her. Their romance blossomed throughout high school and when they graduated, they set a wedding date. The couple finally married in 1939. Because the family was so poor, Rosella’s wedding dress was made from a piece of cotton cloth that her mother had at the house. The dress was made by her mother on an old treadle sewing machine. While living in Tulare, South Dakota, Rosella and Glendon had their first child, RoseMarie. She was born in 1941. Their second child, Gerald, was born in 1943. In 1944 Glendon was inducted into the US Navy. He served our country on the USS New Mexico during WWII. He was discharged in 1945. Their third child Rodney was born in 1947. In 1948 the family moved to Hand County, South Dakota where they began dry dirt farming. The times were tough and hard on the farm and often, even though the crops looked good, along would come a hail, drought, or unexpected event that would wipe out the entire crop. Where many families would use the Sears & Roebuck to buy new cloths, they had to make do with what they had and use the catalog for toilet paper. When the kids wore holes in their jeans Rosella would take the backs of their old pants and use them for patches. She often had to patch the patches. The patches lasted another year until kids outgrew their jeans. The winter of 1951 to 1952 was very bad due to the severe snow storms. There was so much snow they could climb the snowbanks and reach to the top of the electric poles. The county had to close all the roads due to impassible snow. Every two weeks or so, a neighbor who owned a plane would fly into town and pick up everybody’s mail. He would circle the farm and drop the mail. Diane was the fourth child born in 1952. She was 22 days old when Glendon and a neighbor drove into town and were finally able to bring mother and child back to the farm. In March of 1956 the family moved from Hand County to a farm near Bonilla, South Dakota. In March of 1958 they moved again, this time to Hitchcock, South Dakota, where they made a living raising chickens and selling eggs. The cracked eggs could not be sold at market, so those were consumed at family meals. While still in Hitchcock, David, the fifth child, was born. In 1959 the family left farm life and moved to Wolsey. Glendon found a steady job working at the WestPark Truck Stop in Huron. In Wolsey, they were able to purchase their first home. It was an older house built in 1895. There was no electricity, heat was generated by a stove, and water was only available in the basement. Rosella always had a large garden. She froze and canned food items. She worked as the district office clerk at NW Public Service for 20 years. Sadly Glendon passed away in 1973. Working at Public Service allowed her access to new technology and the Dilleys were one of the first in Wolsey to own a microwave oven. After retirement, Rosella and three close lady friends took many bus trips with the Farmers Union. She enjoyed traveling through most of the United States including Alaska and Canada. In 1987 Rosella married Alvin (Squirt) Marshall. Rosella and Squirt bought a motor home and traveled quite a bit. During fair season, you would find them camping at different fairs throughout the state. They lived in the Wolsey house until 2004 when they moved to Rapid City, South Dakota. While in Rapid City Rosella continued her crafts and was active in the senior center. Sadly husband Squirt passed away in 2008. A big change for Rosella was her move to Salt Lake City, Utah in 2011. She moved to Salt Lake to be closer to family. She rapidly made friends with everybody. She had many very close friends at Mt Olympus Presbyterian Church and at the Friendly Neighbor Senior Center. Family and friends were the lucky recipients of her famous “Rice Krispie Peanut Butter Bars” and caramel rolls. She was always asked to bring her famous peanut butter bars to every family dinner, gathering with friends, and social event. Over the years she participated in the South Dakota State Fair, Utah State Fair, several farm shows, and many different county fairs, where she entered many crafts and food items. Amongst the crafts were afghans, knitting projects, crocheted projects, and plastic canvas projects, but her specialty was her intricate counted cross stitch pictures. She emphasized that every piece was made “without one mistake”. One year she was honored with the Homemaker Sweepstakes Award for excellence in crafts and baking at the South Dakota State Fair where she received a silver platter. The Utah State Fair considered her a “Super Senior” due to her continued participation in her 90s. She has a tote filled with items for the 2020 Utah State fair. Rosella made a cross stitch picture of “the Wolsey house” where she lived for 45 years. Many of the family wanted the picture because of the great memories they had in the house. In memory of her grandson who passed very young, she made a counted cross stitch portrait which resides with his father. Over the years she has been awarded plaques, silver platters, money, and many ribbons for all the items she entered. She was always very proud that the ribbons were typically first place. At the Brown County Fair in 1999, she entered 70 items and received a ribbon for every item. For the great achievement she also received a silver platter as well. The family appreciates all the kindness and friendship shown to her throughout the years. Rosella is survived by her children RoseMarie (Alvin) Parkinson of Salt Lake City, UT, Rodney (Deana) Dilley of Watertown, SD, Diane Dilley of Grand Junction, CO, David (Brenda) Dilley of Lakewood, CO, and grandchildren Scott Parkinson (Syrie Sage), Greg Parkinson, Steve (Jen) Dilley, Nikki (Chris) Gross, Darrell (Patti) Scott, Bonnie (Chuck) Kozubel, Allen (Jen) Scott, Curtis (Danielle) Scott, Danita (Randy) Gerhold, Dustin Vornholt, Virginia Dilley, Travis (Kayla) Dilley, Trevor Dilley, many great-grandchildren, and great-greatgrandchildren. She was preceded in death by her two husbands Glendon Dilley and Alvin Marshall, son Gerald Dilley and grandsons Brian Dilley and Jeff Dilley.