The minister who officiated at Marlene Mickey Padfields funeral says there are lessons to be learned from her life. Locals are looking into the suspicious death of Marlene 51 years ago. Marlene was 17 when she died. Marlene got off on the wrong foot after moving to Lisbon and was later the center of a variety of rumors and gossip throughout the community. Marlene, who dropped out of Lisbon High School her senior year to work in Cedar Rapids, was reported missing around Feb. 18, 1959. Her partially clothed, decomposing body was found about three miles west of Mount Vernon in late April that year. Foul play was suspected, and there were several suspects, but the case remains unsolved. &#8232; The Rev. Eugene Miller, who was the minister at the Lisbon Methodist Church from 1955 to 1963, gave a very direct message at her funeral about gossip. It was pretty nervy on my part, he recalled in a recent interview with the Sun. I gave a kind of an editorial from the pastor to the community on the effects of gossip and how it can go far beyond what we imagine possible. That went all through the community in a town like Lisbon, there arent any secrets. No one ever challenged me on that. Miller indicated he welcomed the current interest in Marlenes life, death and the communitys reaction. He noted that a collective amnesia can set in following an event like this. He cited as an example his own lack of knowledge about deadly race riots in his native Oklahoma, which he only learned about many years after the fact. If a whole state could wipe out from memory an unpleasant event, a tiny community like Lisbon could do the same thing, he said. Miller, who was 24 when he came to Lisbon in 1955 after attending the Southern Methodist University seminary, said he remembers the Padfield family quite vividly and offered these recollections. <b>Padfields arrive in Lisbon</b> The whole family attended church on the first Sunday after the family moved to Lisbon in the summer of 1957. After that, Hammond Padfield, Marlenes father, didnt return to church. (Hammond Padfield was employed at a packing plant in Cedar Rapids.) Miller said Mrs. Padfield was in charge of the family and was anxious to become accepted in the community. Marlene got off to a bad start, Miller said. On the first night the family was in town, Marlene went to the outdoor roller rink on the north edge of town. It was the only thing in town for kids to do, Miller said. She was very anxious to become popular. That night, Marlene became involved with a man who had just been released from the Eldora State Training School for Boys, an institution for young delinquent men. He had a pregnant wife at home. (Marlene) didnt know that, but everybody else did, of course, Miller said. Things went along, school started and she was not a very happy young lady, he said. She tried out for the junior class play. That was her first success. Miller said he was in touch with most of the young people in the community. Marlene attended the Methodist Church youth group once, but didnt come back. Still, he saw her around town and remained friendly. I saw her the day she got the lead part in the play. She was just bubbling over and had to tell somebody. Marlene asked Miller to attend the play, and I have never seen a high school dramatist close to her equal, he said. She was just outstanding. The girl had talent, and she worked very hard on the play. Miller said he saw little of Marlene after that. <b>Rumors of syphilis</b> Marlene didnt get to enjoy her success with the junior class play for long. Jealousy, suspicion and rumors soon surfaced. It was a long hot summer, Miller said. There was an epidemic of syphilis (in the Cedar County area), and that caused a lot of concern. Although the outbreak was traced to Tipton, when several people in northern Cedar County (close to Lisbon, which is in Linn County) became infected, it was rumored that Marlene was one of them. The outcome: The night before school, Hammond Padfield came to my door, and he was livid. I couldnt get him calmed down, Miller recalled. Mothers had demanded that their daughters would not use the same dressing room as Marlene, the implication being that Marlene was infected, Miller recalled. Miller suggested to Marlenes father that the only way to stop the rumors would be to have Marlene tested. He resisted, but soon gave in. When the test results came back, they were negative. Marlene did not have syphilis. Regardless, Marlene was not interested in starting her senior year at Lisbon, so she dropped out and took jobs in Cedar Rapids. She rode to Cedar Rapids with her dad, who worked at the Wilson packing plant. Their shifts didnt coincide, and her parents allowed her to rent a room in Cedar Rapids, where her landlady would look after her. Unbeknownst to her parents, Marlene soon moved to a walkup apartment with no supervision. <b>Marlenes death</b> My involvement came rather dramatically, the minister said with perhaps a bit of understatement as he recalled the events of early 1959. On a late April night, he had just left Lisbon for a meeting in Mechanicsville, when his wife received a phone call from Mrs. Padfield, Marlenes mother. Marlene had been missing since Feb. 18, and now a body or at least part of it had been found. Mrs. Padfield telephoned early in the evening and went on at great length about dogs digging up some bones ... and she was just sure it was Marlene, he said, noting that he and his wife probably were the only ones Mrs. Padfield could talk to. Mrs. Padfields instincts were correct. Marlenes body had been found off Abbe Creek Road west of Mount Vernon. <b>A detectives theory</b> Miller was acquainted with a Cedar Rapids police detective who was familiar with the details of the case. The detective told him he could talk about it since the case was under the supervision of the Linn County sheriff and not the police department. The theory is that a young man attending Coe College was the last person to see Marlene alive. They had been at the Kozy Inn on First Avenue in Cedar Rapids. Circumstantial evidence in the case pointed to the Coe student. Millers detective friend theorized that a sexual advance was made to Marlene, she refused, and as the two were driving back to her home, the partially dressed Marlene jumped out of the car as it approached the bridge that crossed Big Creek near Camp Good Health (now Camp Tanager). The detective felt she tried to make her way to a light in a farm yard and ultimately died of exposure, Miller said. <b>The funeral and the message</b> The funeral for Marlene Padfield was sparsely attended. Mrs. Padfield set about arranging the funeral with the expectation there would be a great outpouring in the community, he said. She wanted it in the church, and not at the funeral home, and was obviously disappointed with the size of the turnout, Miller said. Only 14 people at least one of them a reporter attended the funeral in the church. Fourteen people in there doesnt make much of a dent, he said, referring to those attending as a sprinkling of people from the community. There were no relatives there beyond the immediate family. WMT-TV in Cedar Rapids wanted to bring a camera in to the service, but Miller declined the request, saying it would be too disruptive. Later, WMT would air a special on Marlenes disappearance multiple times. His remarks at the funeral included his thoughts on the power and damage that can be done by spreading unfounded rumors. Reflecting on Marlene more than 50 years after her death, Miller said its important to learn from her life and the damage gossip can cause. <b>A lost memorial for Marlene</b> Within a month of Marlenes death, the Padfields were preparing to move out of Lisbon. Hammond Padfield approached Miller and said the family wanted to give a memorial to the Lisbon Methodist Church in the form of a small blue spruce tree, a type Marlene loved. Miller agreed, and he and Marlenes father planted it at the corner of the church. This was one decision Miller didnt take to the churchs board. It was about three feet tall when planted and grew to at least 30 feet before it was chopped down a few years ago. I was disappointed when I found it had been removed, Miller said. They said the roots were disturbing the foundation. Following his time in Lisbon, Miller spent nine years at the Methodist church in Tipton and at several other churches before retiring from his last church in Bettendorf. He now lives in Davenport.

Recommended for you