FOREST CITY — Marian Anna Lenz, 80, of Forest City, died October 18, 2026, at Mayo Clinic Hospital in Mankato, Minnesota, leaving a legacy that reached from kindergarten classrooms to the quilts and poems she created for others.
Visitation will be held from 10 to 11 a.m. Friday, October 23, at Pilot Knob Lutheran Church, 2391 330th Street, rural Forest City. Her funeral service will follow at 11 a.m., with the Rev. Robert Snitzer officiating.
Burial will take place at 1 p.m. Friday, October 23, at St. Paul’s Lutheran Cemetery, 203 200th Street, Whittemore. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to Pilot Knob Lutheran Church’s Operation Christmas Child Fund in Marian’s name.
Born November 27, 1945, in Mason City, Marian was the daughter of William and Mildred (Zimmerman) Quinlan. She grew up in Nora Springs and graduated from Nora Springs High School in 1964 before earning her bachelor’s degree in education at the University of Northern Iowa.
Teaching became a significant part of her life. After spending a year each in Fredericksburg and Ventura, she settled into a long career teaching kindergarten at Garner-Hayfield Elementary, where her family credits her with 23 years in the classroom. She later worked for Iowa Ag Statistics for three years.
Marian married Daniel “Danny” Lenz on December 26, 1981. They began married life on a small acreage west of Garner, but Marian found a property near Pilot Knob State Park where she wanted them to build a home. Construction began in the fall of 1984, and the couple moved in that December. It remained her home for the rest of her life.
Her creativity took many forms. An accomplished quilter, Marian earned awards and ribbons for her work, presented quilting programs with Barb Snitzer and gave many of her quilts to relatives and others. Her china painting filled a cabinet and other spaces throughout the house, and counted cross-stitch occupied her hands for many years.
Words offered another way to express what mattered to her. According to her obituary shared by Schott Funeral Homes, Marian wrote a poem for each cousin who died. Her final poem was written for her own passing. Her poetry also appeared through Eber & Wein Publishing.
Marian pursued family history with determination, researching documents in distant places and becoming a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Her faith in Jesus remained central to her life, and she was a faithful member of Pilot Knob Lutheran Church.
She is survived by her husband, Danny, of Forest City; four sisters-in-law; three brothers-in-law; 18 nieces and nephews and their children; and close friends.
She was preceded in death by her parents; two sisters who died in infancy before she was born; and all of her aunts, uncles and cousins.
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