Marilyn Sitenga

Marilyn M. Sitenga, 68, of Machesney Park passed away suddenly Friday, July 15, 2016, in Rockford Memorial Hospital after suffering a brain aneurysm. She was born May 17, 1948, in Marshfield, WI, the daughter of John and Clarice (Pelow) Pabst. She graduated from Pittsville High School in 1966 and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education at the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point. Already friends since high school, Marilyn began dating Charles Sitenga shortly after graduation and they were married on January 13, 1973, in Pittsville, WI.

Marilyn developed a love for music from an early age. While still in junior high, she regularly played piano solos and duets with her best friend and cousin, Diane (Pelow) Denniston for a local radio station’s Saturday morning programming. During high school, Marilyn won 32 different medals for performing piano, alto saxophone and vocal music in Solo & Ensemble Competitions. She was also awarded a scholarship for a prestigious music camp at UW-Madison for the alto saxophone. In college, she traveled with the University Choir for a three-week European tour that included England, France, Switzerland, and both East and West Germany. After relocating to the Rockford area with her husband and children in 1977, Marilyn has touched the lives of hundreds of students through the piano studio she ran out of her home since 1978. She enjoyed training students for competitions and recitals and coaching them in stage presence and musical etiquette. Many of her students went on to win blue ribbons and state championships. She poured much effort into her twice-yearly piano recitals, planning the details of each program around a particular theme and then taking special delight in surprising her students with theme-specific prizes and awards to honor their hard work. Her teaching truly instilled a lifetime love of music in her students; many of them are active in their churches and communities as performers, accompanists and teachers. In addition, Marilyn played an integral role in the music ministry at North Love Baptist Church.

She was an incredible wife, mother, and grandmother. She treasured her grandchildren and would drop anything she was doing to play a game with them or help them learn new things. She loved hearing her grandsons play the violin and always looked forward to their visits together. Since she lived so close to her granddaughters, she developed a very close bond with them. She cherished their regularly occurring playdates, and they spent hours upon hours together sharing activities such as Rainbow Loom, knitting, making crafts, watching silly cat videos on YouTube, and much more. She was also their piano teacher and inspired a love of playing music in both of them.

She had many hobbies including gardening (she was a master at growing any plant indoors or outdoors), selling on eBay (especially Build-A-Bears), putting together jigsaw puzzles with her husband (the harder the better), and challenging herself with word games online. She loved to watch Nascar racing and UFC. She loved watching all of the flowers bloom around her home, including peonies, lilies, hostas, Lily of the Valley, geraniums, marigolds, and pansies. Indoors, she was a master cultivator of African violets as well as other houseplants. She was wonderful in the kitchen and her family loved her chocolate chip zucchini cake, sourdough bread, pumpkin pies, and a variety of cookies.

Survivors include her husband, Charles; son, John (Wendy) Sitenga; daughter, Rebecca (Kenneth) Maas; grandchildren, Isaac, Adam and Marcus Sitenga, Mariela and Kylie Maas; several nieces and nephews; cousins, Diane (Noel) Denniston and David (Kathie) Pelow. Predeceased by her half-sister, Betty Merkel.

Service at 11 a.m. Saturday, July 23, in North Love Baptist Church, 5301 East Riverside Blvd., Rockford, with visitation from 10 a.m. to service time in the church. Burial in Argyle Scottish Cemetery, Caledonia. Visitation also from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, July 22, in Delehanty Funeral Home, Ltd., 401 River Lane, Loves Park. In lieu of flowers, a memorial will be established.