Muriel Stenzel passed away peacefully at Covenant Village in Turlock aged 96. She is reunited in heaven with her husband, David (Dave) Stenzel, who preceded her in death in 2001.
Muriel was born in San Francisco in 1927 to William and Rosalie Powers. Muriel attended Lincoln High School in San Francisco where she made life-long friends who gathered for brunch every Mother’s Day from 1944 through 2019. After attending Lincoln High School, she earned a degree in Business administration.
While working as the Executive Secretary to the President of Ames Steel Corporation, she met the love of her life, David Stenzel. Muriel and Dave were married in 1958 where Dave was a Professor of History at Stanford University.
By 1961, Dave and Muriel had two children (Christina, 1959 and Eric, 1960) and decided that Turlock would be a great community to raise their family. Dave accepted a position as Professor of History at Stanislaus State College. Shortly after moving to Turlock, Muriel had her third child, Carl in 1965.
While in Turlock, Muriel became involved with many community programs, clubs and activities including The College Women’s Club, Parent Teacher Associations, Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, the Soroptimist International and Meals on Wheels to name a few.
In 1970, the family embarked on an epic 6-month tour of Europe that included crossing the Iron Curtain to attend an International History Conference in Moscow. After returning to Turlock, Muriel served as the Church Secretary at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church for many years.
From 1974, world travel became more frequent with husband Dave leading college history tours, with Muriel joining, through Europe. These tours proved so popular that in 1980, Muriel and Dave opened a travel agency in Turlock, Tempo Travel, where Muriel served as the President and CEO.
As retirement neared for both, husband Dave was lecturing on luxury cruise ships where they were both spending their years with 6-month cruising around the world and 6-months in Turlock. Sadly, husband Dave suddenly passed away in 2001 while the ship was docked in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Muriel returned to Turlock and again became active in the Turlock community by volunteering at Emanuel Hospital, Good Shepard Lutheran Church and, again, with Meals on Wheels.
Muriel is survived by her daughter Christina (Richard) Randall of Merced, son Eric (Eileen Sice) Stenzel of Galway, Ireland, son Carl (Caroline Wallace) of Germantown, Iowa, her grandchildren Kristen and Ryan Randall (Merced), Laura and David Stenzel (Ireland) and Aria, Tiersa, Kassia, Daniel and Saoirse Stenzel (Iowa).
Muriel was a loving mother, mother in-law and devoted grandmother and was loved dearly by all her family. May her good soul rest in peace.
A memorial service will be held Friday, 19 April, at 10AM at Good Shepard Lutheran Church, 640 N. Minaret Ave. A viewing will begin at the church starting at 9:00am.
In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Alzheimer’s and Dementia research (https://www.alz.org/). Please share condolences at www.AllenMortuary.com
