Marsha Archibald Larsen

On May 27th, 2018 Heaven gained an amazing angel as our dear mother Marsha Archibald Larsen passed away after a 7 week battle with leukemia. Three days before she passed away, we got news that she had beat cancer and we know how happy she would have been about that. However, there were other complications during this time that resulted in us losing our sweet mom.

Marsha was born on November 29, 1951 to her parents who she loved so dearly, Elmer and Colleen Archibald. She was the only girl and had four brothers, Lynn, Dennis, Paul and Craig. Her dad, Elmer’s unfortunate death in 1970 left her mother Colleen as a single mother of 5 children. However, this is where we believe our mom learned to be such a strong and hard-working woman. Our grandma Colleen taught our mom what it took to overcome obstacles and endure hardships and her and my mom had a very close relationship until she passed away in 2012. This was such a hard thing for our mom to deal with, yet she honored her mom in everything she did.

She was raised in Wellsville and attended Sky View High School where she graduated with flying colors. She lived her entire life in Wellsville and so loved her Wellsville friends and family who she grew up with and attended church with throughout her life.

She married Larry Larsen in 1972 and during their 25 years of marriage she spent the majority of her time being a stay at home mom raising their 5 children, Amy, Melanie, Eric, Brett and Mindee. We were very fortunate as children to have our mom stay home with us during most of those years as we grew up. Throughout all our lives we lived in the same home in Wellsville and our mom took great pride in her flower gardens and always enjoyed being outside making her yard look beautiful with different flower arrangements. She also loved reading books while sipping on a diet coke in the sun and always had one of her many pets by her side. She has always had pets as long as we can remember. She loved her cats and dogs with a great passion.

She spent several summers working for the Cache County school district Migrant Program which she thoroughly enjoyed. She felt such pride playing a role in so many different families lives as they attended this summer program. In 1999 she started working full time for the Cache County School District and shortly after that she was given the opportunity to take over the Writing Lab at Sky View High School. This has been her absolute home away from home for the better part of 2 decades now and she has made some incredible friends during this time.

Not a day goes by since her passing that one of us children hasn’t had a student or member of the staff current or past that reminds us what an amazing person our mom was. We have heard so many stories about how our mom played a critical role in so many of these students lives and how her impact on them truly made a difference in their life and continues to make an impact today. One student who graduated several years ago has now finished medical school and informed our family that he will be starting a Marsha Archibald Larsen scholarship program at Sky View starting next year where students who represent our Mom’s attributes can apply and potentially be selected for a scholarship towards their first year of college.
Our family was so touched as we heard from so many staff members and students from Sky View and Green Canyon and had several of her closest friends come to visit her while she was in the Leukemia unit at LDS hospital. Those visits, phone calls, texts and emails meant so much to our mom and us. During her short stay at the LDS Hospital in Salt Lake, she made an impact like only our mom could. She had every nurse in that entire unit feeling like they were her best friend. That was our mom, she always tried to make everyone she talked to feel important because she believed they were. She already is and will continue to be incredibly missed by everyone who knew her.

Marsha took great pride in all the church callings she had throughout her life but none was more special for her than her time working in the primary with the little ones. She loved teaching the little kids.

Marsha was preceded in death by both her parents, Elmer and Colleen.
She is survived by her brothers Lynn Archibald (Jeanne), Dennis Archibald (Rose), Paul Archibald (Stephanie) and Craig Archibald (Amy). 5 children, Amy Larsen, Melanie Larsen Gunnell (Jeremy), Eric Larsen (Heather), Brett Larsen (Lindsey) and Mindee Larsen Thompson (Nick). She is also survived by her 12 grandchildren. Melanie’s 6 children Bailey Chatterton, Brinley Chatterton, Hadlee Gunnell, Kamree Gunnell, Deegan Gunnell and Emery Gunnell. Eric’s 3 children, Nasir Larsen, Talib Larsen and Isabella Larsen. Brett’s 2 children, Ayden Larsen and Hartley Larsen, and Mindee’s 2 children Peyton Thompson and her little boy coming this fall. Anyone who knows our mom knows that was only one thing that rivaled the love she had for her grandchildren, and that was her love for Diet Coke. Her grandkids have each spent their lives feeling like they were the most important person in “Grandma Marsha’s” world, because she always made sure to put in the effort to ensure they did. She would often go without, just to make sure her grandkids had more than they could have ever dreamed for.

A viewing will be held at Allen-Hall Mortuary, 34 East Center Street in Logan on Sunday June 3rd from 6-8 pm and on Monday, June 4th from 10:30-11:30 am at her home ward at 660 South 100 West in Wellsville.

The Funeral services will be held on Monday June 4th, at 12:00 noon at the above Chapel in Wellsville. 660 South 100 West (Wellsville).

Our family was so touched as we heard from so many staff members and students from Sky View and Green Canyon and had several of her closest friends come to visit her while she was in the Leukemia unit at LDS hospital. Those visits, phone calls, texts and emails meant so much to our mom and us. During her short stay at the LDS Hospital in Salt Lake, she made an impact like only our mom could. She had every nurse in that entire unit feeling like they were her best friend. That was our mom, she always tried to make everyone she talked to feel important because she believed they were. She already is and will continue to be incredibly missed by everyone who knew her.