Marlene Balsano

Marlene Teresa Balsano, daughter of the late Santo Bud and Pearl (Suttill) Balsano, was born on January 8, 1932 in Murphysboro, Illinois, and departed this life on November 4, 2014 at Texas County Memorial Hospital in Houston, Missouri. She was 82 years, 9 months, and 27 days of age.

Marlene was active in politics and served as an alderwoman in St. Louis, Missouri. She retired from Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, which is now AT&T.

Marlene was a loving mother of five children; three boys and two girls, and to one adopted son, Terry, a grandmother of seventeen, and a great-grandmother of seventeen. She was fiercely protective of her family and she cherished her dog, Slate.

Those that knew her often described her as feisty and a spitfire. She loved to tell jokes and was a great storyteller. Marlene had an open door policy in her home. Everyone was welcome and she enjoyed the company, but, she was just as happy to see them go home.

She was a generous person and always giving someone around her something, whether it was food, candy, or something from one of her estate or garage sales shopping endeavors.

Marlene Balsano was a strong willed woman who lived by her own terms. Its only fitting she would go out on her own terms. A fighter until the end, she lived her life with a bang and left it that way.

She was the sunshine of our lives; the glue that held us all together. She shall forever be missed.

Besides her parents, she was preceded in death by one sister: Diane Bracken.

She is survived by three sons: John Hauck of Tickfaw, Louisiana, Mark Hauck of Mountain Grove, Missouri, and Terry Hauck of Independence, Louisiana; two daughters: Pamela Hauck of St. Louis, Missouri, and Victoria Sturges of Mountain Grove, Missouri; two sisters: Jackie Crutcher of Bryan, Texas, and Judy Bachofer of San Diego, California; seventeen grandchildren; seventeen great-grandchildren; and many other relatives and friends who will miss her very much.


Visitation: Thursday, November 6, 2014 from 5:00 PM to
7:00 PM at the Craig-Hurtt Funeral Home.

Funeral Service: Friday, November 7, 2014 at 10:00 AM at Craig-Hurtt Funeral Home.

Burial: Hillcrest Cemetery, Mountain Grove, Missouri

Memorial Contributions: National Kidney Foundation