City of Oaks Funeral Home & Cremation
Obituary
Roselene "Sue" MARKS
Cary, North Carolina
Age 88.
Died 03/17/2025.
In her married life with Don, Sue set up homes in Madison, then Fort Eustis, Va then Morehead MN and finally in Brookfield, Wi, where she spent 17 years raising her two children. Sue was active in Newcomers group, bridge and book clubs, Calvary Lutheran Church, bowling and tennis leagues and made many close friends. She was a Green Bay Packers fan and enjoyed home UW Badger football games which allowed her to return time and again to Madison. On these frequent visits there would always be time to see relatives or meet friends and family at the Brat House, or at the favorite hangout: Paisans. Visits to Door County for vacation each August were the highlight of the year for Sue and her family. In 1972, she and Don built their first new Brookfield house and enjoyed it for 8 years before moving to Houston, TX. Sue learned how to two-step, make fantastic Tex-Mex dishes, joined Kinsmen Lutheran Church, played tennis and continued to make life-long friends. Three years later she found herself packing their household belongings and moving to another new home in Cary, NC, where she continued her tennis, her bridge & book clubs, and joined Christ the King Lutheran church where she was a dedicated member of the Altar Guild, the Knitters group, and was the best, supportive “choir groupie” of Don’s dedicated singing in the chancel choir for 40 years.
Sue was a loving wife, mother, daughter, cousin, aunt, Godmother, grandmother and best friend. Life with Don was often filled with travel, whether it was to Europe and Hawaii several times or to their condo at Kure Beach NC which they were able to enjoy for 17 years. She loved to keep a spotless house, always an excellent homemaker--reveled in domestic chores, enjoyed cooking, sewing, music, reading and discussing books, started a fun side business in Longenberger baskets, enjoyed decorating, the holidays, shopping, always a wonderful letter-writer, and was a tremendous hostess of parties, spontaneous get-togethers and dinner gatherings for her family and many friends. Sue made friends easily and was good at making lasting friendships during her lifetime. She was a treasure, a loving and giving friend to all who knew her. We rejoice in all the laughter and the good times shared.
Sue is survived by her beloved husband of 66-1/2 years, Donald; her loving children Marsha Vanderwerff and Christian Marks; grandchildren Sallie and Mark Vanderwerff; first cousin Luann Bodenmann, second cousins Mary Zumbrennen Fox, Kathy Zumbrunnen (Greg) Roach; nephews Bruce (Dottie) Moebius, Jim, Bobby, Ric (Pam) Moebius; George (Lisa), Jeff (Patty), and Bill Marks. She was preceded in death by her loving parents, in-laws Alfred and Myrtle Marks, brother in-law Army Sgt. George A. Marks (WWII), brother in-law Charles H. (Cecy) Marks, Sister in-law Joan (Leland) Moebius, Uncle Herbert Spaeni Sr. (Frieda), Aunt Edna Marie Spaeni, beloved cousin Herbert Spaeni Jr, Aunt Alma Butts, cousin Armela Butts, niece Linda Marks, nephew Neal Moebius and many other relatives and friends.
A Celebration of Life Service for Sue’s family and friends will be held at Christ the King Lutheran Church, 600 Walnut Street in Cary, NC on Saturday, May 3rd at 11AM. The service will be live-streamed (recorded) on the church’s youtube channel. To attend or view, copy/paste this link: https://youtube.com/live/yxdaiJDZPes A burial (grave site) service will take place at Roselawn Cemetery in Monona, WI in July 2025.
In lieu of flowers, Memorial donations may be made to Transitions LifeCare on their website: www.transitionslifecare.org (purple donation button on top banner) or to the Dementia Alliance of NC www.dementianc.org (scroll to bottom page for purple donation button).
These two groups gave us so much support, information and love. We are grateful to all. Special Thanks to HomeCare helper Nequa (she’s an angel), our Hospice team Eve, Melissa, Brandy, Donna, our dear friend Tina and all those wonderful friends who sent cards and called and came over just “because.” We are so blessed.
For additional information or for service details, please reach out to the family directly.
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City of Oaks Cremation and Funeral Home is a full-service funeral home in Raleigh, serving all of North Carolina and beyond. We provide an alternative to costly funeral homes and every day we help families in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and all over North Carolina make simple, affordable funeral arrangements.
Simply having to reach out to a funeral home can feel overwhelming. Our goal is to simplify the entire funeral home experience and make the process as easy as possible. We hope to eliminate any unnecessary surprises by publishing our total cost and the services we provide directly on our website. All of our obituaries are provided free of charge as a way to help families celebrate and commemorate the lives of their loved ones.
Our Promise
Apples to Apples
Just like all other licensed funeral homes in North Carolina, City of Oaks Cremation, LLC is regulated by the NC Board of Funeral Service.
The same laws that apply to the big corporate funeral homes also apply to the modest independently owned firms like ours. All crematories in North Carolina, regardless of who owns them, are inspected annually by the state and must adhere to the same rules and laws.
Genuine Care
We're committed to providing families within our community unsurpassed service before, during and after the time of loss.
Our staff will provide clear communication to your family through each step as we move forward from the original phone call notifying us of a death to the time we deliver the urn back to your family. We will treat your family with the utmost respect, as we honor the wishes of your loved one.
We promise to make this process affordable and as endurable as possible.
State Wide
Our Funeral Home is located in Wake County NC; however, we provide our services to families throughout the entire State.
Unlike other funeral homes, we don't charge an additional mileage fee. Regardless of what county you live in, we can help your family with making simple, affordable funeral arrangements. From Asheville to Wilmington, we're proud to help families statewide.
Our Services
$1196.75
Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. We include everything you need for a simple or direct cremation. Simple, affordable and reliable. We have not changed the cost of our direct cremation service since we opened City of Oaks in 2012.
$2875.66
We offer the option of choosing how you receive your loved ones remains. Selecting our Direct Cremation with Solidified Remains option is a beautiful way to transform cremated remains into 40-60 “stones” that you can hold.
$1917.84
City of Oaks Funeral Home and Cremation provides an affordable cremation option with onsite visitation. Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. Simple, affordable and reliable.
$2497.50
An immediate burial has the same end result as a traditional burial; however, we have eliminated the extra (sometimes unnecessary) services prior to getting to the cemetery. Not everyone wants an open casket for viewing or a limousine for the family. Despite the term immediate, we can move as fast as you need or as slow as you like. This option simply allows you to save money by eliminating some of the fancy extras at the funeral home.
$6081.48
We offer the same traditional funeral services as the big corporately owned funeral homes in the area; however, we cost about half the amount. You might consider a traditional funeral service if your family is looking for an open casket visitation, a traditional church service or a funeral service in the funeral home's chapel. A traditional funeral service can be altered to fit the needs of your family.
$3033.75
This establishment is one of a select number of funeral homes who meet the criteria for providing green funeral service by the Green Burial Council; a tax-exempt, nonprofit organization working to encourage environmentally sustainability in the field of funeral service. Our Green options allow for a funeral to take place without the use of toxic and non-biodegradable materials/chemicals.
$2640.59
As an alternative to traditional cremation, City of Oaks Funeral Home also offers Aquamation. The Aquamation process, often referred to as alkaline hydrolysis, uses a solution of water and potassium hydroxide to facilitate natural decomposition.