Marianne Gerlinde (Drescher) Sontag

It is with profound sadness, gratitude and celebration that we announce the passing of our Mom, Oma, Aunt and friend, Marianne Gerlinde Sontag, who went to be with Jesus, peacefully, on August 5th, 2025 at the age of 81, in Little Rock, Arkansas. She was a devoted and sacrificially loving mother, grandmother and a true friend to many. Marianne’s sweet voice, kindness, laughter, and unwavering spirit will be deeply missed by all who had the privilege of knowing her.

Born on May 8th, 1944 in Hermannseifen, Sudetenland, Marianne was the daughter of Adolf Dresher and Anna Pasler. She was the youngest of six siblings who grew up in the aftermath of World War 2, which was a devastating time of severe economic depression that instilled in her a strong sense of faith, family and community along with a keen and creative intelligence for how to be resourceful with little, while demonstrating a work ethic second to none. 

Before moving to America in 1963, Marianne was an international operator, speaking five languages fluently. Once in the United States, she continued to operate switchboards and was once referred to as, “The voice of Channel 7,” as she was the first person to greet anyone who called the station. She spent 26 years at Rebsamen Insurance working full-time while also maintaining part-time jobs in the evenings and on weekends at local hospitals or hotels. Marianne always credited having wonderful neighbors, family, friends and the, “Good Lord,” for helping her care for her children. She was intentional about modeling and teaching them valuable life and interpersonal skills that would foster the development of traits like faith, family, integrity, discipline and excellence along with the love for lifelong learning, kindness and compassion towards all people through words and deeds. Whenever she had a night or weekend day off from work, Marianne made every opportunity to spend quality time with her children to create many fun memories that they both cherish to this day.

As Marianne’s children grew into adulthood, she loved to share with friends and family about their successes and struggles they’d overcome in life and made sure to tell her children often how much she loved them and how proud she was of them. Marianne was highly skilled in the kitchen with the ability to cook a wide variety of things from European cuisines to down home, American Southern Fried Chicken or Catfish. The aroma of her delicious cooking or baking could be savored throughout the house and it was filled with her special ingredient of love overflowing. Marianne was a very talented seamstress and enjoyed a multitude of sewing skills which enabled her to make beautiful clothing and elegant dresses along with crocheting scarves and blankets as well as inspirational needlework that she would frame and give to others. Marianne also found great happiness in gardening and loved to see seedlings or cuttings grow into vibrant, thriving plants that she would readily share with others.

Marianne adored her grandchildren. She delighted in spending time with them by creating memories of fun play dates and adventurous outings to a variety of places. She took immense joy in seeing them thrive in life and was extremely proud of them. Over the years, Marianne also enjoyed traveling to Germany to visit with her mom and siblings before they passed and she always maintained a special bond with her niece, Regine. Her love and pride for the woman Regine has become was very evident in how she spoke of her and how much she loved being with her. Marianne also cherished her relationships with her children’s aunts and uncles as well as her nieces and nephews on the side of her Sontag family. She always expressed how much she loved them and how she felt loved by them as they continued to celebrate special occasions together over the years.

Marianne became an American citizen in 1996. She was proud to be an American but also celebrated her German heritage as she participated in the German Club with her friends and in most recent years, attended Friends International at Immanuel Baptist in Little Rock on a weekly basis. She would talk to her children about how much she loved her friends who were from various countries such as Germany, India and Japan and also expressed gratitude for the leaders who facilitated the Friends International program.

Marianne was very thoughtful of others and practiced the art of writing sweet note cards and letters that she sent in the mail to people regularly. She would also go visit new neighbors with a fruit basket, share a meal with friends or call people she hadn’t talked to in a while. Marianne was, without a doubt, one of the most generous, thoughtful and loving people who expressed gratitude in everything. Her children and those closest to her find great comfort in knowing she is with the Lord and they look forward to the day they will reunite with her again in eternity.

She is survived by her children, Kevin Sontag (Summer Sontag) and Shelley Harrison (Benji Harrison), her grandchildren, Gracelyn Sontag and Anabelle Sontag and her loving niece, Regine Neth (Deiter Neth). She was predeceased by her parents, Adolf Dresher and Anna Pasler and five siblings.

A memorial service to celebrate Marianne's life will be held on Wednesday, August 20th, 2025 at The Bible Church of Little Rock, located at 19111 Cantrell Road, Little Rock, AR 72223. All are invited to attend and share their memories from 11:00 to 11:30 in the lobby and the Celebration of Life will be held in the worship center from 11:30 to 12:30. Marianne loved bright and cheerful colors, so attendees are encouraged to wear bright colors to honor her. In lieu of traditional flowers, the family requests that guests be a blessing to others, even if it’s just a smile, share flowers, plants or send a card to someone they love who may enjoy them while they're still living in this world. Marianne and her children were very blessed to have no “unfinished business, regrets, or unforgiveness”, concerning their relationships and would pray that all family and friends would be able to talk about difficult things and repair relationships as they arise and are safely possible to do so with an attitude of forgiveness and love. Even in times where we may have to, “love from a distance,” for a variety of reasons, our hope and prayer is to find forgiveness for ourselves and others as our Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ forgave us.

Arrangements by Arkansas Cremation, 10515 W Markham St, Suite B1, Little Rock, Arkansas 72205. If you would like to leave a message of condolence to the family, you may do so using the Guestbook section.

www.arkansascremation.com