Mardell Jean (Domy) Bartlett

Mardell Domy Bartlett knit a life of beauty, love, and light from the skeins of material she gathered in her life. For many who knew Mardell during her adult life she almost always carried with her some yarn and knitting needles. These tools allowed her to be married to Darwin Bartlett for 61 years and to appear calm as her kids, Todd, Tracy, and Dawn participated in their sporting events or concerts. Through her knitting she was able to create beautiful expressions of love that blessed others from her time, energy, and mostly meditative approach to knitting.
Her curiosity and knowledge seeking led her to learn how to spin wool and create yarn. Curiosity was a large part of how she learned about people and things in this world. She would ask many questions and get to know you so well that if she came across an article or cartoon that reminded her of you, she would cut it out and share it with you either by mail or in person.
Her husband, Darwin, would find himself traveling in retirement to places that Mardell had found through her reading. Or participating in mission trips to New Mexico or the Gulf Coast. Together they raised gardens and provided produce that was sold to church attenders, with the money funding mission projects around the world.
For much of her life she was a physical therapist who helped knit broken bodies back together with her skill and patience. She cared deeply about her patients beyond the physical therapy that she offered. For some years she enjoyed providing support to students in the Red Wing schools who needed physical therapy as a part of their education plan.
Mardell recognized the torn fabric of our world and advocated for repairing the gap between races as a participant in civil rights protests. She advocated for others to be a part of the life of the church and be seen as the beautiful human beings that God had a part in knitting together. The thread that runs through all her life is faith. A faith that was begun in her childhood in Waseca, MN and carried her through college, a new church start in Blaine, MN and finally as a very active member of the First United Methodist Church of Red Wing.
Mardell leaves a legacy of having shared her skills with others, providing them with tools to knit their own beautiful creations out of the materials of their lives and enjoyed watching them do that. She was preceded in death by her parents Marvin and Adeline Brownlee Domy, and her sister Marlene. She is survived by Darwin, Todd and Laura Bartlett, Tracy and Bob Hoover, Dawn Ives and three granddaughters Hannah Bartlett, Megan Bartlett, and Leonna Ives.
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m., Saturday December 18, 2021 at the First United Methodist Church of Red Wing. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at church. Masks are required.  Arrangements with the Mahn Family Funeral Home, Bodelson-Mahn Chapel, Online condolences may be left for the family at www.mahnfamilyfuneralhome.com