Marilyn Louise (Alberts) Place

Marilyn L. Place, 87, Blue Hill, Nebraska passed away on Tuesday, August 19, 2025, at The Pines at Blue Hill.  Service will be Monday, August 25, 2025, 10:30 a.m. at Faith Lutheran Church, Hastings, Nebraska with Pastor Paul Dunbar officiating.  Burial will be in the Blue Hill Cemetery at 1:30 p.m.  Visitation will be Sunday, August 24, 2025, from 1:00-8:00 p.m. with family present from 4:00-5:00 p.m. at Merten-Butler Mortuary, Blue Hill, Nebraska and one hour before service at the church.  A memorial has been established to be designated at a later date.  The service will be live-streamed on Merten-Butler Mortuary’s website.  To view the service, go to Marilyn’s obituary and click on the play button towards the bottom of the page.  Condolences may be sent to the family at www.mertenbutlermortuary.com.  Merten-Butler Mortuary, Blue Hill, Nebraska is in charge of arrangements.

Marilyn Louise (Alberts) Place was born on January 6, 1938, to Albert J. Alberts and Frieda L. (Sundermeier) Alberts in rural Rosemont, NE. and was baptized on Feb 6, 1938.

Marilyn (nicknamed by all family as Mary) received her primary education at Rosemont country schools, attended high school and graduated Salutatorian from Bladen Public Schools and later in her retail management career for 20+ years, she received her associate's degree from CCC in business management.

She attended the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Rosemont and was confirmed on June 17, 1951, and was married on January 27, 1956, at Zion Lutheran Church. Marilyn and Alfred were members of Trinity Lutheran Church in Campbell and later Faith Lutheran Church in Hastings, NE.  They renewed their 50+ wedding vows on November 13, 2004, on the Mount of Olives, Jerusalem Israel and often enjoyed attending holiday services at Mount Calvary Lutheran Church in Beverly Hills, CA. 

They farmed in Webster & Franklin Counties and lived near Bladen, NE for 50+ years.  Later, Marilyn resided at Good Samaritan Village. 

From this marriage four children were born Carolyn Sorensen (Rodney), Duane, Drs. Janelle (Abbass) 

Ali-Dinar and Alan (Joy) Place. 

Marilyn enjoyed farm life and loved all animals and had a passion for pets.  She well remembered growing up on a farm and all of the livestock chores, working the fields for harvest as well as gardening, canning, bread baking and sewing. 

She taught Sunday School and Vacation Bible School for many years at Trinity Lutheran Church. She was a proud supporter of all of her children's events and memberships and was highly active in school committees for band, speech, drama and was often a school chaperon and enjoyed fundraising activities for school activities, church functions and multiple community events and initiatives.  She also was a very active 4-H parent and one of the sponsors for the Bladen Blades for 20+ years in Webster County and State Fairs Volunteer Programs to help set up and expedite displays and reviews for cooking, sewing, public demonstrations, public speaking, judging and musical categories.  

Since Alfred was a WW11 Veteran Marilyn loved serving and being a member of the American Legion Women's Auxiliary (Willie Firestein Unit 169- Campbell, NE) since 1981.  She enjoyed attending many, District 10 conferences and national conventions and parades and it was a highlight to meet President Reagan and later President George H W Bush.

Marilyn was an avid seamstress making the most detailed of Barbie clothes to highly detailed suits and dresses and designing and combining patterns.  She also enjoyed putting together complex crochet patterns and stiches often combining up to 8 patterns and made many an Afghan blanket for family, friends and charity events.  Her tapestry of interests included drawing, writing poetry and short stories for contests, calligraphy, complex puzzles and board games.  She loved hymnal to gospel to contemporary Christian music, plus the 50's to the 80's and enjoyed dancing and singing so much so that she and Alfred took several years of dancing classes including ballroom and the waltz. She was fiercely competitive, independent, could solve mysteries and forensic shows before the plot was shared and always would go the distance for whatever needed to be accomplished - dusk to dawn she wanted to be counted on.  Her warmth included lots of smiles and laughs and she enjoyed the nursing/nurturing role of caring for loved ones in their own final moments.  On the home front - she enjoyed submitting recipes to national farming magazines and won entries nationally in bread baking, apricot rolls and dessert parfaits.  She also enjoyed making customized Wilton cakes for birthdays.  She enjoyed entertaining and reunions and arriving early to save and set up tables and taking pictures - archiving the family tree.  

Always with a good eye for fashion and merchandising, she was a clothing manager for Full Size Fashions/Lots to Love (for 25+ years) at the Imperial Mall and later Nebraska Crossing, Gretna, NE where her store was often the top of market nationally.  She was an Imperial Board Member for 15+ years and served on countless mall and Hastings community events; she was an active member of the Hastings Chamber of Commerce and BPW - Business Professional Women's' Network, served as a mentor for many high school students in developing business and customer service skills and served on the Nebraska Crossing Retail and Marketing Boards.  

To round out her passion for staying connected and supporting young women, Marilyn was a judge for Miss Nebraska/Teen/Teenager pageants helping contestants cultivate their respective writing, poise and presentation categories.  

As a person of faith - she loved traveling with Alfred - getting the passport stamped and considered the travel and faith highlight of her life walking in the footsteps of Jesus across Israel, taking in the History of the Bible from Old to New Testaments and in addition to reaffirming their marriage vows on the Mount of Olives, also reaffirming her/their baptism at the Jordan River.  She also loved travels to Los Angeles and checking out new sights, food experiences, dipping her toes in the Pacific and taking in ocean sunsets. She liked cultural events, museums, Hollywood television game show attendance and taking in historical sites. 

She knew she was never going to be able to spend enough time with her own children or the next generations but was immensely proud of her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren that they live their dreams, have healthy lives filled with purpose, health and happy families. Her many books and bibles were filled with prayers, notes and reminders she had written for her "beloved's - reminding them and herself how treasured they were to her but especially to Jesus. 

In her final years she resided at Good Samaritan and enjoyed many friends and committees and then called The Pines - home where her care was an expression of additional "family love."  While the memories faded, sweetness, kindness and grace filled the moments.  Always wanting to be a woman of valor, she wanted to fill and fulfill her mission as a daughter of the King Most High - the merits of her confirmation selected passage (June 17, 1951), The Evangelical Lutheran Church): Walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.  Col.  1:10.  

Celebrated in Life and Death she leaves a legacy of beautiful family members and forever united in Christ's love and mercy and comforted by 2 Corinthians - 1:3-5.

Grandchildren: Ryan (Michelle) Sorensen, Rory (Michaela) Sorensen, Ronny Sorensen, Danielle Nice (Michael Kampschnieder), Desiree (Adam) McPherson, Amirah Ali-Dinar Mandapakala (Dr. Chaitanya Mandapakala), Hayden Place and Ellery Place. 

Great Grandchildren: Jack, Paxton, Ava and Gage Sorensen; Chloe and Jayden McBreen, Maiya McPherson; Stella Kampschnieder and Maanya Mandapakala.

Sister: Norma (Lonny) Bostock

Preceded in death by her parents and husband; grandson, Omar Ali-Dinar; brothers LaVern and Wayne Alberts; sisters Violet Boettcher, Verna Long and Vivian Yamauchi; daughter-in-law, Ann Wasko Place.

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