Marlies Finch, 81
Marlies Josefiene Finch, 81
Marlies Josefiene Finch, age 81, passed away Dec. 23, 2021 at Sanford Hospital. Her emmorial service will begin at 2 p.m. Friday, May 27, 2022 at the George Boom Funeral Chapel in Brandon. The family will be present one hour before services to receive guests. Interment will take place at Brandon Lutheran Cemetery directly after the memorial service. In lieu of flowers, please consider a memorial donation to any animal shelter or veteran’s organization. Visit www.georgeboom.com for an online guestbook.
Marlies was born in Cologne, Germany on April 29, 1940 to Karl and Lucie (Kuhfeld) Kante. She had an older sister, Helga Kante (Kroll). But it was wartime, and they were separated, not to see each other again for many years. Once they did, despite living an ocean apart – by then Marlies had married and moved to first Kansas, then Maryland – they were as close as sisters could be.
Marlies lived for dancing. She met her first husband at a dance when she was 17. When she later married Dan Finch, her beloved husband of 35 years, they square danced and round danced all across Europe before retiring from government service to live in Fredericksburg, Va., and dance some more. Ten years later they moved to Brandon, where they added social dancing to their repertoire. After Dan passed, it was their dancing community that encouraged Marlies to come out again after a year of deep mourning. Eventually she returned to square dancing, and social dancing, and was dancing 2-5 times a week until just days before she fell ill with COVID and entered the hospital.
During their 11 years stationed in Germany while Dan worked for the Army, Marlies mastered the art of crewel work and resumed her talent for sewing, embroidery, and quilting. After she and Dan moved to Bethany Meadows, she added oil painting to her accomplishments. In their early retirement, they traveled across the U.S.A. in their RV, sightseeing, visiting family, and attending dance festivals.
Marlies was an avid reader and health advocate, and collected a wealth of information on health and wellness that she shared widely with friends and family. She was a caring, generous woman who wanted everyone to live their best life now. She and Dan also became collectors of anything and everything, having visited many flea markets and factories while overseas. Other joint ventures included a stint selling jewelry, Amway, more flea-marketing, and five years of operating a combination fast food restaurant, gas station, and miniature golf course in Maryland early in their marriage.
Marlies was a survivor, having grown up in post-World War II Germany, and having beaten breast cancer in 1992 with no remission. This was what sparked her interest in health and wellness. She also loved to garden, talk on the phone, and shop. At thrift stores, particularly. But any store would do.
And, later in life, she became quite the pool player.
Survivors include her daughter, Liana (Andy) Wathen; grandson, Samuel, nephew Juergen (Kirsten) Kroll; stepchildren, Carol (David) Essen, Richard (Yongmi) Finch, Michael (Christie) Finch, and Sharon (Dan Pease) Finch, along with their children, Paul (Gurkie), Daniel, Laura, Brianne, Collin, Hayden (deceased); and grandchildren.
Marlies was preceded in death by her father, mother, sister, and husband, Dan D. Finch.
For online condolences, visit georgeboom.com.
