Marcia Kay Niessen

Marcia Kay Niessen was born to Irvin Henry Orton and Esther Cecelia (Jensen) Orton on June 10, 1937, in Zion, Illinois.  Shortly thereafter, the family joined her recently widowed grandfather on the family farm just outside of Driftwood, Oklahoma - the farm that was originally claimed by her great-grandfather and grandfather, as part of the Cherokee Strip Land Run of 1893.

Marcia attended Byron-Driftwood Community School.  Along with her studies, she played basketball, softball, and tennis under the renowned coach Loyd Stout, and learned to cook and bake - which became a lifelong passion.  After her graduation in 1955, the family relocated to the Sackett farm southwest of Bergen, MN.  She then went to beauty school in Mankato.  Upon graduation, she found employment as a hairdresser at Vivian Dehmlow’s Beauty Shop in Mountain Lake.

On June 26, 1960, she married Allan John Niessen at the Methodist Church in Windom - just three months before her mother passed away from cancer.  They had two children:  John Scott and Bradley Allan.

While becoming an active participant in the work of running a family farm and raising her family, Marcia also served as a Sunday School and Wednesday night teacher, as well as on the church library committee for many decades.  She had been baptized on August 18, 1946 at the Driftwood Methodist Church, where the Orton family was active members for four generations.  After her marriage to Allan, she became a member of First Mennonite Church for more than 20 years and for the past 40 years was active in the Mt. Lake Christian and Missionary Alliance Church.

She also volunteered with the Mountain Lake Public School PTO and served as a leader for the elementary school’s Great Books program.  Upon their retirement from farming, Marcia worked part-time in the CENEX C-Store deli for many years.  After her husband Allan passed away, she maintained a love of cooking, reading, and following the activities and achievements of her six grandchildren.

Marcia is survived by her two sons, John Scott (Lorie) of Andover, MN, and Bradley Allan (Nicole) of Andover, KS, and grandchildren:  Anna, Joshua, & Christina, and Brayden, Chloe, & Eli and her sister Barbara Leasure (Lewis) of Cambridge, MN, as well as four nieces and nephews:  Janice Leasure, Curtis Harder, Renee Herrig, and Robyn Lundsten.

In lieu of flowers the family would prefer to Samaritans Purse or Gideons International.