Marie French, age 78, of 1345 Michigan Ave. SW, Huron, died Monday, July 16, 2007, at the Huron Nursing Home. Her funeral service will be at 10:30 AM Thursday, July 19, at Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church with Rev. Jonathan Boehne officiating. Burial will be at Restlawn Memory Gardens Cemetery. Friends may call this Wednesday afternoon and evening at the Welter Funeral Home or prior to the service at the church Thursday morning. The family will be present from 7:00 to 9:00 PM this Wednesday evening at the funeral home. Marie French was born Marie Lorraine Root on July 14, 1929, to Levings and Louise (Domogalksi) Root at Yankton, SD. Maries father died before she was born and her mother died when Marie was 3 years old, so Marie lived with her grandparents for a few years until she was placed by the Lutheran Benevolent Childrens Society with foster parents, Bill and Mathilda Frank, who lived on a farm near Wolsey, SD. After Bill died, Mathilda and Marie moved to Huron where Marie completed her education and graduated from Huron High School in 1946. Marie worked at various jobs for a couple of years, then in 1948 took a position with the federal government as the personal secretary to the Executive Director of the State of South Dakota for the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS) as part of the Department of Agriculture, based in Huron. She retired from that position in 1987. In 1951, Marie married Delman Heffner, and to this union one son, Stan, was born. In 1957, Marie married Darrell French. Darrell died on June 3, 1981. She was a member of Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church, Lutheran Hour Ministries, Elks Lodge, Forest McMullen VFW Post #1776 Auxiliary since 1958, and the Association of Retired Federal Employees (ARFE). Her many interests included bowling, occasional work at the church, watching Soap Operas on television, and socializing with her many friends. Marie is survived by 1 son, Stan Heffner of Westerville, OH; 1 brother, Harold (Jessie) Root of Huron; and several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents; her foster parents; her husband, Darrell; 1 step-son, Dennis French; 2 sisters, Leone Marske, and Dorothy Bult; 1 half-brother, Ward Johnson; 1 sibling in infancy; and several nieces and nephews.