Marvin R. Lillie was born December 18, 1921, on a farm near Murray, Nebraska. He was the youngest of five children born to Frank Lillie and Minnie Doering Lillie. His father, Frank died of pneumonia when Marvin was only 2 years old.
After his father’s death, the family moved into Plattsmouth, Nebraska. His older brother, Harold was a father figure to him. He kept busy and out of trouble by working odd jobs.
He helped Harold with a milk route and was Harold’s gas station attendant at the age of 9. Marvin also had a newspaper route for five years. As a teenager, he worked for George Gallup doing telephone interviews, pumped gas at a station, was the window dresser for the local dime store, delivered groceries, and was the janitor at the Plattsmouth Methodist Church.
At 19, he began working at a canning factory where he got a cut which caused an infection that nearly ended his life. He was in the hospital on and off for nearly a year and which also prevented him from serving his country in WWII. In 1941, he got a job as a taxi driver and worked the overnight shift at the electric substation.
He met his bride to be, Connie Summers, who was a waitress at Carr’s Café & Bakery in Plattsmouth. The couple both got hired to work at the Glenn L Martin Bomber Plant near Fort Crook (now Bellevue). They married September 10, 1944 at the Methodist Church in Plattsmouth.
After the war, Marvin was hired as a cook at Walgreens in Omaha. In 1946 he worked at a gas station in Plattsmouth and was offered and accepted a Sinclair gas station and tank wagon dealership in Wahoo in August 1947. Housing was not available in Wahoo until December when Connie and their baby daughter Rita came to join him.
A son, Doug was born six years later. In his 50 year career, he also worked for Shell, Frontier and Husky Oil distributors operating filling stations and a tank wagon service. His Husky station was a 24 hour operation and it only closed once for Rita’s wedding.
He opened Marv’s Parts and Service after closing the Husky station, continuing with his tank wagon service. They also had a contract of 10 years duration to deliver products to Avon sales reps in 19 towns in eastern Nebraska twice a month utilizing their two ”C & M Deliveries” panel vans . After retiring, they went to auctions, collected Plymouth cars from the 1930’s, and traveled to see friends and family throughout the United States.
Marvin is survived, by his wife Connie, daughter Rita and husband Loren Lindahl, son Doug Lillie and wife Julie. Five grandchildren Todd Lindahl, Kelcie Keeling and husband Shane, Tiffany Hale and husband Jeff, Alicia Arnold and husband Nick, and Kenzie Sattler and husband Tony and eight great grandchildren, Jordan Lindahl, Courtlyn and Creighton Keeling, Chloe Hale and Serenity Hale, Shawn Arnold, and Jackson and Isaac Sattler. A special thank you to Don and Ann Jonas, Todd Blaske, and John Virgl.
Memorials may be made to: Wahoo Lodge #59 A.F. & A.M. First United Methodist Church Wahoo Volunteer Fire and Rescue To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of Marvin R Lillie please visit our Sympathy Store.
If you found any mistakes, or you would like to add/remove to this obituary, please contact us by email: info@obituary.memorial. We never ask money for this.
