Bookkeeper had great love of playing music

For nearly 30 years, Marcella G. Odmark rose bright and early on Sunday mornings to play the first two morning Masses at St. Zachary Church in Des Plaines.

What started as a fill-in position at nearby St. Raymond's Church in Mount Prospect a few years earlier turned into a ritual for Mrs. Odmark and her family that lasted nearly until she reached the age of 80.

"She loved it," her daughter, Susan Odmark of Palatine, says. "She loved being a part of the parish life."

Mrs. Odmark passed away Sunday. The 54-year resident of Mount Prospect was 90.

It turns out playing the organ was just the first of her many talents. While Mrs. Odmark had studied music and piano at Rosary College in River Forest, she began to take an interest in bookkeeping after marrying her husband, Kenneth, who was a certified public accountant.

When the youngest of their five children attended St. Raymond School in Mount Prospect, Mrs. Odmark agreed to help out the principal as a school bookkeeper.

It was the Rev. Daniel Coughlin who first asked Mrs. Odmark to work part-time in the school. The former St. Raymond's associate is now the chaplain for the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, D.C., and even then he was very persuasive, family members say.

"It started out as one day a week, but pretty soon it became four days a week," Mrs. Odmark's daughter said. "She loved it, though. She believed strongly in Catholic education, and she loved being around the kids and the vitality of the school."

On the other days, Mrs. Odmark helped her husband with a business he launched after retiring from his accounting job. Together they started the appropriately named Ken-Mar Corp., a marble manufacturing business.

"Before DuPont came up with Corian, my Dad came up with the idea of a solid surface countertop with a matte finish that you could sand to clean," Susan Odmark added. "They kept it a small, local business, but they had a reputation of being able to install the hardest jobs."

Mrs. Odmark kept the books, but she also pitched in with sales, took orders, ordered materials and even made some deliveries when needed.

The couple sold the company in 1999, shortly after Mrs. Odmark had stepped down from her organ responsibilities.

In doing so, she finally got to stay out later on Saturday nights and sleep in on Sunday mornings, her daughter adds, which seemed like a real luxury.

In addition to Susan, Mrs. Odmark was the mother of Edward, Robert, Gunther and the late Kenneth Odmark. She's also survived by her husband of 66 years, Kenneth; four grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and a sister.

Visitation will take place from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Friedrich's Funeral Home, 320 W. Central Road in Mount Prospect. Funeral Mass is 10 a.m. Friday at St. Raymond Church, 301 S. I-Oka Ave. in Mount Prospect.