Teresa Kay Marckmann

Teresa Marckmann joined the heavenly choir on Sunday, August 31 in Des Moines. We are quite sure she has taken it over, actually.

Teresa Kay Lutz was born on March 4, 1967 to Robert (Bob) and Winona (Nona Hohensee) Lutz at the San Diego Naval Hospital. She joined older brother Ray and was later joined by twins Tina & Trina. The family crossed the country several times following Bob’s Navy career.

After landing in Long Beach, Teresa enjoyed singing and playing the violin. She also helped take care of the new family baby Terri. As Teresa and the twins got older, they participated in Girl Scouts with Nona often as their scout leader.

In 1983, the family moved to Adair, Iowa where Teresa graduated from Adair-Casey High School as the Salutatorian of the Class of 1985. After graduation, Teresa moved to Lamar, Colorado to attend Lamar Community College and provide assistance to Grandma Hohensee.

After graduation from LCC, Teresa spent time in Massachusetts as a nanny and then attending Gordon College for a Bachelor of Music Education Degree. With degree in hand, she returned to Iowa where she taught music at St. Malachy’s in Creston and Adair-Casey Elementary.

During many summers, Teresa worked as a counselor at Easter Seals Camp Sunnyside in Des Moines where she met Dennis Marckmann. The couple married on July 23, 2005 in an un-airconditioned church in Adair.

For the past several years, Teresa has worked at the Community Care Center in Stuart. In addition to hosting the dining room, Teresa facilitated sing-a-longs that she enjoyed just as much as the participating residents.

Often, nieces and nephews were given the edict, “Anyone taller than Teresa has to…” or “If you are shorter than Teresa…” since anyone who was as tall as Teresa had to have reached the age of responsibility. Anyone shorter than Teresa had to listen to Teresa and anyone taller than she was.

Teresa was preceded in death by her parents, Robert & Winona Lutz, her brother Boyd “Ray” Lutz and her husband Dennis Marckmann. Left to miss our little BIG sister are Tina Escoto of Stuart, Trina Hayden of Redfield and Terri (Greg) Simmons of Dallas Center. Nieces and nephews include Chris (Des) Walhovd of Stuart, Robin Walhovd of Pleasant Hill, Timothy Settlemoir of Redfield, Austin (Breanna) Settlemoir of Greenfield, Jesse Settlemoir of Fontanelle, Emerson Escoto of Stuart and Emily Escoto of West Des Moines. She also leaves behind her great-nieces and newest great-nephew as well as countless aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.

Funeral Services will be at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, September 13, 2025 at the Stuart-Mt. Vernon United Methodist Church in Stuart with Pastor Jenny Knutter officiating. A luncheon will be served in the Stuart-Mt. Vernon United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall following the service.

Burial will be at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 13, 2025 at the Sunnyhill Cemetery in Adair.

Visitation will be from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Friday, September 12, 2025 at the Schmidt Family Funeral Home in Adair. There will be additional visitation one hour prior to the service on Saturday at the Church.

In lieu of floral tributes (seriously, we have too many plants) memorials may be directed to Easter Seals Camp Sunnyside (ia.easterseals.com) or the Adair-Casey Food Pantry.

Funeral arrangements are with the Schmidt Family Funeral Home of Adair.