A. Mary (McElmeel) Finn - Brown 1921-2006

BROWN, FINN, MCELMEEL, MICHEL, VANDORN, STRUKEL, HESS, CARHOFF, PRATT, MAZZA

Posted By: Cheryl Locher Moonen (email)
Date: 9/29/2015 at 19:55:09

A. Mary (Finn) Brown, 84, of Des Moines, formerly of Farley, Iowa, and Dubuque, died Wednesday, May 10, 2006, at Mercy Medical Center, South Campus, Clinton.

Services will be at 11 a.m. today at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Fillmore, with the Rev. Daniel Krapfl officiating. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery, Cascade. Friends may call after 9 a.m. today at the church. The Reiff Funeral Home, Cascade, is in charge of arrangements.

She was born on June 1, 1921, in Farley, daughter of John and Ella (Michel) McElmeel. She received her education in the Farley area schools.

She married Joseph Finn in 1940, in Ely, Minn. She then married John Brown on June 27, 1958, in Clinton.

She was a member of St. Peter's Parish, Des Moines.

Mary was a very loving wife and mother. She also was a beautiful seamstress and great cook.

Surviving are six children, Mary (Bill) VanDorn, of Clinton, Francis "Frank" Finn, of Onalaska, Wis., Alice Strukel, of Gilbert, Minn., Gerald (Finn) Hess, of Ohio, Patrick (Finn) Carhoff, of St. Louis, Mo., and Sister Ann Pratt, OP, of Racine, Wis.; 14 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren; and a sister, Doris Mazza, of East Dubuque, Ill.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her first husband, Joseph Finn, on Oct. 23, 1950; her second husband, John Brown, on April 7, 2003; a son, Joseph Finn; eight brothers, Francis, Gerald, Howard, Bernard, James, Richard, Steve and Louis; and four sisters, Beatrice, Helen, Doris and Genevieve.

An A. Mary Brown Memorial Fund has been established.

Telegraph Herald (Dubuque, IA) - Saturday, May 13, 2006