Funeral services for 74-year-old Betty “Marlene” Fast of Mountain Lake, Minnesota, will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday morning, October 10, 2014, at the Cornerstone Bible Church in Mountain Lake. The church is located at 1019 Prince Street.
Interment will be in the Cornerstone Cemetery (formerly the Evangelical Mennonite Brethren Cemetery), located on the west side of 570th Avenue, south of 360th Street and north of 10th Street/Cottonwood County Road #9 in rural Mountain Lake.
Pastor Nathan Janzen will serve as officiant for the services.
Visitation will be held at the church for one hour prior to the start of the funeral service on Friday.
Sturm Funeral Home-Mountain Lake is handling the funeral arrangements.
Betty “Marlene” Fast passed away on Sunday, October 5, 2014, in Mountain Lake.
She was born on April 24, 1940 in Wolf Point, Montana, the daughter of Arthur and Elizabeth (Koslowsky) Fast. In her early years, she went forward in her home church during a revival service and received Christ as her Lord and Savior. She was baptized upon confession of faith in 1952.
Marlene attended country school in the Lustre, Montana area and graduated from Lustre Bible Academy in 1963, several years later than expected. This was due to a diagnosis of Sydenham’s chorea in her early teen years that put her on bed rest for five years. The condition became a chronic one for her. Nonetheless, she graduated from Northern Montana College in Havre, Montana in 1967 with her Bachelor’s degree in elementary education. She taught various places in Montana, South Dakota and Minnesota for the next six years. Although she then left the teaching profession, she continued to have a lifelong love for children and teaching.
Marlene moved to Omaha, Nebraska in 1974, where she spent 29 years working in daycare and other positions. She formed many lasting friendships during her time there and loved entertaining those friends in her home. She faithfully volunteered in the nursery at the Community Bible Church in Ralston, Nebraska, where she got acquainted with and supported numerous missionaries. She continued to support them her whole life.
Due to health issues, she moved to Mountain Lake in 2003 to be close to her sister, Marge. After a fall in November 2008 and surgery to repair her broken hip, she entered the Eventide Home and later the Good Samaritan Village, both of Mountain Lake.
She will be remembered by many for faithfully sending birthday cards and letters as long as she was able to do so. She never felt inhibited by her condition to go out and meet people. As a result, she had many friendships in many places. Never once did she complain about her chronic condition – truly a lesson for us all.
Many years ago, her dad introduced the song, “Others,” to the family. It became the Fast family song and was sung every time they gathered. Marlene truly embodied the words of the song throughout her life.
She is survived by her six siblings, Marge (Willard) Friesen of Mountain Lake; Martin (Karen) Fast of Frazer, Montana; Marliss (Eldon) Busenitz of Waxahachie, Texas; Iris (Joe) Troche of El Paso, Texas; Marietta (Ron) Olfert of Frazer and Marla (Donald) McKinley-Forbes of Chester, Montana. She also leaves behind 26 nieces and nephews and 61 great-nieces and great-nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents, two brothers-in-law and a niece.
