Marlene Alma (Hoepner) Pamperin, 89, died Saturday, June 20, in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

The oldest of seven children, she was born in a farmhouse near Iron Ridge, Wisconsin, on July 15, 1936. She attended many small rural schools in the area, and throughout her life, she could tell you who lived in every house and on every farm along the country roads of Juneau and Dodge counties.

After graduating from Hartford High School in 1954, Marlene moved to Milwaukee. As a young independent working woman who had grown up in the last years of the Depression, she enjoyed being able to bring Christmas gifts home to her family.

She married Ray Pamperin on September 20, 1958, and moved with him to New London, Wisconsin. There they established R & L Electric, Inc., providing motor repair and commercial and residential wiring services. While Ray worked happily in the motor repair shop, Marlene worked in her office, handling what she called “the bookwork.”

In the early 1970s they built a house on a small farm, and Marlene spent long hours in the garden growing flowers for local greenhouses and handing out sweet corn, raspberries, and vegetables to friends, family, and neighbors. Between canning salsa, ironing clothes, making meals, and hanging laundry, she hosted many parties, pig roasts, and New Years Eve and 4th of July celebrations with Ray for their extended family at the farm on the ledge.

Marlene and Ray sold R & L Electric and retired to Manawa in 1995. There Marlene took on the role of Grandma, maintaining close relationships with her grandchildren even as they moved on toward adulthood.

Marlene and Ray moved to Oshkosh in 2016. Their apartment was the heart of frequent family gatherings that brought together their children and grandchildren for holidays, meals, and games. More than anything, Marlene loved to provide for the people around her. If you came for a visit, you could count on leaving with a loaf of fresh-baked bread, a bucket of chocolate chip cookies, a plate of banana bread, or a bowl of strawberries and raspberries.

Marlene was preceded in death by her husband Raymond; parents Florence (Ehlers) and Norbert Hoepner; her brother Ken; her sisters Bernice, Lucy, and Marilyn (Mike) Keller; and her brother Jack.

She is survived by 5 children: Pam, Cindy (Mark) Richardson, Lance, Mary Hamilton, Tom (Cathy Statz) Pamperin; and 5 grandchildren: Amy, Emma, Blayde, Autumn, and Renton.

She was loved; she will be missed.

A funeral service will be held at Living Water Lutheran Church, 1585 S Oakwood Rd, Oshkosh, on Sunday, June 28. Visitation will begin at 12:00, followed by the service at 1:30 and luncheon after.