Ironwood Golf Course is known for helping raise money for charity. But now the family responsible for running it is being lifted by your generosity.
"We've been in restaurants, and driving down the street and we see the decals," Margo Lehmann says. "Marleh's love has been spread, everywhere. And that's what heals my heart."
Margo Lehmann and husband Mike remember their daughter Marleh living life.
"Turn pain into purpose," Mady Lehmann says. "I definitely think that my family has done that. It's really meant a lot. The community outreach has been unbelievable."
Mady Lehmann recalls a sister who loved all.
"She, especially, was good friends with people with special needs, and that was something that I really looked up to," Mady Lehmann says. "People who didn't have a lot of friends, she would always try to include people."
In late January, Marleh Lehmann, Margo's daughter and Mady's sister, was tragically killed by a wrong way driver who had dementia.
"If you have elder parents, aunts and uncles, friends, that have dementia, as hard as it is, take the keys away. My daughter would still be alive, if somebody would have taken the keys away from that man," said Margo Lehmann.
Margo lost her chief cheerleader as she battled a non-curable form of cancer.
"The last 8 years have been a struggle," Margo Lehmann says. "My health-wise. I will say, Marleh was always one of my biggest supporters. We celebrate every year, my cancer anniversary. And Marleh would be the first one that wakes up. 'And, this is your day Mom!'"
So Margo has poured herself into developing shark strips, or something to curb this problem.
"Wrong way drivers are up, 230 percent," Margo Lehmann says. "I can't tell you how many times when I'm driving, those digital signs that hang over the overpass, silver alert, silver alert. All the time. Which means, somebody's out there driving lost. Just take the keys away."
Mady Lehmann balanced law school at Wisconsin with a clothing line to honor Marleh.
"This clothing brand has definitely been therapeutic for me," Mady Lehmann says. "I put all my time, energy. It keeps me busy and so, it's just been a great way to spread her love and keep her in remembrance."
'No worries, none' is a phrase Marleh lived by. And the non-profit clothing line will benefit kids like her.
"Marley wasn't the straight A student, varsity on any team," Mady Lehmann says. "But she was an inclusion, caring, kind, funny person. And so we're trying to give a scholarship to a student, a high school student that most likely wouldn't be able to financially afford college."
Giving back is ingrained in the Lehmann family, as Mike runs Ironwood Golf Course, known for being one of the top golf courses in the state for hosting charitable events. Now the community is eager to help them heal.
"It's your turn to receive, I guess, is what many family members and friends is, you know, they're not surprised by it," Margo Lehmann says.
Learn more about the scholarship clothing effort by clicking here.
