Marlene Kay Walrath's Obituary
Marlene Kay Walrath 80, of Tacoma, WA passed away peacefully on July 1, 2026. Born January 1, 1946, in Crookston, MN. She was the youngest daughter of William and Evelyn Glasser. She moved to WA when she was 11 years old and resided in Tacoma her whole life. She graduated from Franklin Pierce High School in Tacoma in 1963, where she met her high school sweetheart, Tom Walrath Sr. They married in 1965, and had three children, Tom Jr., Renee’, and Angie. Tom and Marlene were married 61 years. Along with being an amazing homemaker and mother, in the early days, she kept the books for Walrath Trucking where she would compute everything by hand, and balance down to every penny.
Marlene was a beautiful soul, smart, kind, simple, giving, funny, and loving. One of her many talents was baking. She loved to bake for others, and was known for “bake day”, and the infamous “yellow cake”. She would share baked goods with all of the truck company employees. Along with cake, she made the best sugar cookies, and pies. Lefse and Fattigmann were always a Norwegian treat at the holidays too. For years she made a small space in her home for cutting and perming hair for friends, and family.
Known for being called, “Tall Gramma” by her grandchildren, making “Slammin’ Gramma Jamma” during “Gramma Wednesday”, were special memories for her too. Some of her other hobbies/interest throughout her life included sewing, crosswords, church, music, crime shows, Scrabble, boating “Summer Place”, winter travel in RV to Yuma, AZ and of course, her friends. If you met Marlene she would leave a stamp of love on your heart, because of her amazing smile and spirit. She will be forever irreplaceable, and dearly missed. She is preceded in death by her father, William Glasser, mother, Evelyn Glasser, and Sister, Shirley Potts.
Survived by her sister, Nancy Walz and brother, Ken Glasser. Husband, Tom, son, Tom Jr (Teri), daughters, Renee (Randy) Walrath, and Angie(Larry)Capps. Grandchildren, Aaron(Emily), Megan, Tyler, Travis (Tirza), Tracey (Tanner), Brad (Michaela) and Savannah (Mason). Great-Grandchildren, Roman, Haydon, Kashtyn, Hazel, Silas, Beau and Lucy.
A celebration of life will be Wednesday, August 5, 2026 12noon @ St. John of the Woods Church located at 9903 24th Ave E. Tacoma, WA 98445
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