June 16, 1938 – April 16, 2026
Marilyn R. Brocka, 87, of Sumner, died Thursday, April 16, 2026, at the Hillcrest Home in Sumner.
Funeral services will be held at 10:30 AM, Monday, April 20, 2026, at St. John Lutheran Church in Sumner with Rev. Tracy Hinkel officiating. Interment will follow at the Church Cemetery, rural Sumner. Visitation will be from 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM, Sunday, April 19th at Becker & Son Funeral Home in Sumner and for one hour preceding services at the Church on Monday. Memorials may be made in Marilyn’s name to St. John Lutheran Church BIP or St. Croix Hospice.
Marilyn Ruth, daughter of Herbert Lynn and Alleen Iva (Surber) Sutcliffe was born June 16, 1938, at the Waverly Hospital. She was baptized in sign language on June 25, 1939, by Henry S. Rutherford, Deaf Minister to the Deaf at the First Methodist Upper Iowa Mission for the Deaf in Cedar Falls. She grew up as a member of the Clarksville Community Church. Marilyn began her education at a Country School, rural Butler County and graduated from Clarksville High School in 1955. On July 6, 1957, she was united in marriage with LeRoy Brocka at the Community Church in Clarksville. To this union two children were born, Denise and James. Marilyn worked at Lutheran Mutual Life in Waverly, Rath Packing in Waterloo, Dr. Whitmire in Sumner, R. H. Seitsinger, D.V.M. in Sumner, Hawkeye Tech and Area 1 as a sign language instructor and the U.S. Census Bureau. She was a long time faithful member of St. John Lutheran Church in Sumner where she served as a Deacon, trained and served as a Stephen Minister, involved as a voting delegate for Northeast Iowa Synod to ELCA Church-Wide Assembly, was a charter member of the Iowa Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, serving as Vice President and President, hospice volunteer for Cedar Valley Hospice and Share the Harvest which she chaired for a few years. Marilyn was a dedicated volunteer and traveled on many trips around the world to help those in need including Ukraine for a combine project, St. Thomas Hurricane Relief, Mission trips to Mexico, Argentina, Nicaragua, Hurricane Katrina relief, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Bosnia, Armenia, Uganda, Kenya, Bolivia, Peru, Columbia, Timor Leste, Cambodia, Thailand, Jordan, Israel and Burma.
Marilyn is survived by her husband, LeRoy of Sumner; children, Denise Kay (Russ) Hoins of Hawkeye and James Brian (Donna) Brocka of Sumner; three grandchildren, Sarah (Jeremy) Westendorf, Nicole (Greg) Jones, and Stephanie (Joe) Delagardelle; eight great-grandchildren, Kaitlyn and Allison Newlon, Emilee and Melanie Jones, Tyzen Westendorf and Ayva Westendorf and Evelyn and Jerry Delagardelle; and sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law, Joan (Darrol) Kohagen of Sumner, Lois (Terry) Jordan of Sumner and Maxine Brocka of Tripoli.
She was preceded in death by her parents; brother, Dr. Ronald E. Sutcliffe; and brothers-in-law, Roger Brocka and James Brocka.
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