Marlene Eleanor Empey
April 20, 1936 – July 15, 2023
Surrounded by her earthly angels Marlene Eleanor Empey (Kunkel) passed away peacefully on Saturday, July 15th, 2023, at Chartwell Aylmer Long Term Care. Marlene married the love of her life, the late Kenneth Russell Empey (August 1993) on November 20, 1954. Marlene is survived by her children Ken (Eva), Mary (Randy VanDaele), Karl (Joyce), and Ted (Connie); her grandchildren Shasta, Ayla, Sierra, Levi, and Kennedy and her great-grandchildren Zaiven, Avery, Roy, and Lyla. Marlene is also survived by her siblings Bob, Jim, Shirley, and Mary Jane and her in-laws Jack, Jean, and Don. Marlene is predeceased by her parents Alfred H. Kunkel (1961) and Mary M. Kunkel (Cichocka) (2001), her brother Alf and her sister Joy and her in-laws Helen, Harry, Luella, Howard, Norma, Melvin, Dorothy, Shirley, and Keith.
Many in the Brownsville and surrounding area will remember Marlene as their school bus driver, which she did for 40 years and where she ruled with a no-nonsense code of behaviour, meaning, if you didn’t behave you could find yourself walking home.
In keeping with Marlene’s wishes, visitation will take place at the Maurice J. Verhoeve Funeral Homes, 262 Broadway, Tillsonburg, on Friday, July 21st, 2023, from 7:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. Further visitation will be held on Saturday, July 22nd, 2023, from 10:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. at which time the funeral service will commence, in the funeral home chapel, by Rev. Pat Cook. Interment will take place in the Delmer Cemetery, immediately following the funeral service. A reception will follow at the Royal Canadian Legion, 16 Durham St, Tillsonburg. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the “Ontario Dairy Youth Trust Fund” or to the “Tillsonburg District Memorial Hospital” (memo line: Orthopaedic Clinic), or to the “Canadian Diabetes Association” or any charity of your choice via Marlene’s online tribute page at www.verhoevefuneralhomes.com or by contacting the Maurice J. Verhoeve Funeral Homes- Burial and Cremation Services Inc. (519)842-4238.