Original article from KSDK 05/07/2005 -- It's a Mother's Day celebration like no other. One local family has found a way to honor their late mother and wife in such a way that is not only bringing the family closer but is helping another.

Marv Noelken and his wife, Rose, were married for almost 50 years when she passed away in 2002. That's when Marv started volunteering full time for Habitat for Humanity. One day a family friend told him something that surprised him. Marv said, "She told me how proud Rose was of what I did and how she bragged about it all the time in her bible study group."

So Marv came up with an idea to combine his two loves by sponsoring a habitat house in Rose's name. This is the first time the family has gotten together for Mother's Day weekend since Rose died. Granddaughter Colleen Naughton said, "This is just a way to bring us closer together where we could have easily split apart by the distance in the direction we're all going in."

The family has always been close, but for years Carole and her dad didn't always see eye to eye until now. Daughter Carole Lloyd said, "I saw a completely different side of him, how he interacts with other people, I've always seen him as dad a different role, so I think this has brought us closer together."

This gift of love has also brought together two families. Delisa Massey, a single mother of 4, will be the proud owner of Rose's house. Delisa said, "When they told me the significance of it, it was like ok, don't do this, I'm going to cry." To show her appreciation, Delisa will plant none other than roses in front of her house.

Rose's house is one of 20 being built this year by Habitat for Humanity in the Village of Hillsdale.

Some selections from our online photo album.

A little experiment inspired by some ideas from Habitat for Humanity International's Campus Chapter & Youth Programs page...