A Celebration of Life for 95-year old Marvin Spracklen will be Sunday, May 2, at 2:30 pm at the UCC Congregational Church in Chadron, NE.
You are invited to join the service by ZOOM at the meeting code 412 767 1435 with passcode 661996.
No flowers, please, memorials may be made to the Chadron Congregational Church or the Dawes County Historical Society in Chadron.
Marvin Spracklen was born in Crawford, NE on May 17, 1925 and passed away in Boise, ID on April 17, 2021, where he lived the last 9 months of his life to be near 2 of his daughters, Susan and Janine.
Marvin grew up farming in the Chadron area. After serving in the Navy in WWII, he used the GI bill to go to Chadron State College and earn his bachelor’s degree in secondary education.
He taught for two years at Chadron High School and then for 13 years at Grant Junior High in Denver, CO. Marvin was cast in an advertising campaign that gave him the money to pursue his doctorate degree at Northern Colorado University.
After earning his PhD, the family in 1965 moved to Kearney, NE, where Marvin was a professor of educational psychology at Kearney State College until his retirement in 1990 when he and Ardis moved back to Chadron, living just across from Chadron State Park
Marvin was a caring husband, a fun father, and always an educator. While in Kearney, he was a champion bowler, a Girl Scout leader, a high school football referee, and co-director of the Good Life Conference at KSC.
After his retirement, Marvin was very active in the Dawes County Historical Society and the UCC Congregational Church.
Marvin was preceded in death by his wife, Ardis (Garfoot) Spracklen, his brother, Lowell Spracklen, and his parents, Frank and Esther (Hughes) Spracklen.
He is survived by his daughters Susan Knights, Linda Murphy, and Janine Balfour; grandchildren Russell Balfour and Aubrey Balfour; and four great-grandchildren.