Marlene June Gundale

Marlene June (Campbell) Gundale, Shoreview, Minnesota died surrounded by her loving family on March 31, 2025 at the age of 85, one month short of her 86th birthday. She grew up in Robinson Township, just west of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

After high school, Marlene attended Muskingum College in Ohio where she received a Bachelor of Science degree. She then attended Columbia University in New York City where she completed a Master’s Degree in Home Economics during her summers while teaching high school classes at Bradford in northern Pennsylvania near Lake Erie. She then applied for a position overseas with the United Church Board for World Ministries and was assigned to a mission school called Mizpah on the island of Truk in the Eastern Caroline Islands (Micronesia). At Mizpah, she became the dean of girls, taught Chemistry, Sewing Arts, English as a Second Language, and even taught a group of girls to be “twirlers” in conjunction with the Mizpah band.

While teaching at Mizpah she met her future husband, John Gundale, a Peace Corps volunteer who had been assigned to the same school as an English and biology teacher, choir director and baseball coach. Their friendship blossomed into a love story and they were married at the end of their two-year terms in Micronesia at Marlene’s church in Pennsylvania.

They began their lives as a married couple back in Minnesota where Marlene became a teacher of children with special needs at School District #916, in St. Paul and White Bear Lake. Marlene was known by her students and fellow teachers as an excellent teacher who cared deeply about helping her students become productive members of society. Nominated by her fellow teachers and administration, she became a finalist for Minnesota “Teacher of the Year.”

Marlene and her husband had two boys: David who is principal of the Open World Learning Community in St. Paul, and Michael, a professor of forest ecology at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.

Marlene was preceded in death by her parents, Norman and Freda Campbell; younger brother, Norman. She is survived by her husband, John, with whom she was married 55 years; her sons, David (wife, Amanda) and Michael (wife, Kelley); four grandchildren, Micah, Anja, Brule, Stellan; two younger sisters, Lillian Jonnet and Ann Nolte.

Like her sisters, Marlene was an avid quilter, and the three went on annual quilt tours together in northern Minnesota and enjoyed hanging out at Marlene and John’s family cabin near Hackensack every fall, creating beautiful quilts and table runners together. Marlene, of Scottish/English ancestry, was also skilled in crafts such as Norwegian Hardanger embroidery and in baking delicacies such as lefse and krumkake during the Christmas holidays.

During the annual Gundale family Christmas gathering, Marlene initiated and coordinated an annual Christmas pageant involving all the children, dressing them as wisemen, angels, and shepherds complete with hand-sewn costumes.

Always a “giver,” Marlene utilized her excellent sewing skills to make dresses for little girls through a Mission Jamaica project organized at her church.

As a snowbird, Marlene especially enjoyed her annual winter trips to Mesa, Arizona and taking day trips to historic sites with her nephew, Roger, and his wife, Belinda Nolte.

Marlene’s family would like to thank the entire oncology staff at Lakeview Hospital in Stillwater for the excellent care provided during her long illness. They were like a second family to her. Thanks too to nurses from the Hospice team, Mary and Samantha, and the chaplain, Kristin, for their incredible support and compassion. Also, we extend special gratitude to Barbara from Home Instead home care for her loving attitude and helpfulness. They were all angels in disguise.

A celebration of Marlene’s life will be held at 11 a.m. on Thursday, May 15, at Incarnation Lutheran Church, 4880 Hodgson Road, Shoreview, with visitation beginning at 10 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts can be given to the Ralph Reeder Food Shelf, 2544 Mounds View Blvd, Shoreview, or the Open World Learning Community, 640 Humboldt Avenue, St. Paul.