MACKIN, Mary (Golsch) 1916-2019

MACKIN, GOLSCH, LUTH, BRAHENY, ANDERSON

Posted By: Volunteer
Date: 11/7/2024 at 16:45:12

Mary (Colsch) Mackin

Mary (Colsch) Mackin, 102, of Osage, died Tuesday, July 2, 2019, at Osage Rehabilitation and Health Care Center under St. Croix Hospice. Cremation has taken place.

A Funeral Mass will be held at 11:00 a.m. Tuesday, July 9, 2019, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Osage with Father Raymond Burkle officiating. Inurnment will be at a later date. The family will greet friends from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. at Sacred Heart Church before the service on Tuesday.

Mary was born September 13, 1916, on the family farm near New Albin, Iowa, to Leo Hiller and Nellie (Luth) Colsch. She was the third of six children. Mary attended grade school first in New Albin and then in Charles City at the Immaculate Conception Academy. She remained at the Academy after her family moved back to New Albin and earned her room and board by taking care of the public school principal’s young son. After high school, she attended the St. Joseph Mercy Hospital School of Nursing in Mason City.

She graduated as the Class of 1937 Valedictorian. The Mercy sent her first to Ann Arbor, Michigan, for a year due to the expansion of their hospital, where she watched many University of Michigan football games and saw Marian Anderson in concert. She was then sent to Osage to “special” a patient. It is there that she met Jerome “Jerry” Mackin, who lived next door.

She and Jerry were married on April 17, 1942, at St. John’s Catholic Church in Lexington, Kentucky. They soon moved to Omaha, Nebraska, where Jerry worked at the Lockheed Martin Bomber Plant and Mary worked at the Douglas County Hospital. And it was there where they had their only child, Meredith.

The family moved back to Osage in 1948, where Mary worked at the Nissen Hospital on 6th and Oak Street. In 1956, she was hired as the first school nurse for schools in Osage, Mitchell, Little Cedar, and Orchard. She held that position for 22 years. Mary thought it was the greatest job in the world because, as she always said, she “loved working with the children!”

Mary had an irrepressible, adventurous spirit and loved learning new things. She and Jerry either traveled to or camped in every state in the continental United States. They even traveled up the ALCAN highway to Alaska. After her retirement in 1978, she learned the art of loom weaving at the Sievers School of Fiber Arts on Washington Island.

She continued her passion of weaving for many years and routinely displayed her weavings at the Steam Engine Show. Others loved her weaving, too – she won the prize for Best in Fiber Arts for her woven coverlet at the MacNider Arts Festival.

Mary was a member of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church since 1948, Our Lady of Good Counsel Study Club, and a volunteer for many organizations. She also belonged to the Northern Iowa Weavers and Spinners, Oneota Weavers of Decorah, and Prayer Shawl Ministry.

In 2010, she moved to Apple Valley Assisted Living where she very much enjoyed socializing with the wonderful staff and residents. While there, she could usually be found walking the grounds or in the halls during inclement weather.

She was preceded in death by her parents; mother- and father-in-law, Minnie and William Mackin; siblings, Peter (Ann) Colsch, Cecelia (Barry) Braheny, John Colsch, Ellen (Emerson) Anderson, and infant, Albert Colsch; and, in 1997, by her beloved husband, Jerry.

Mary is survived by her daughter, Meredith, and son-in-law, William Macdonald of Osage, Iowa; three grandchildren - Carol Macdonald of Virginia Beach, Virginia, Charles (Carrie) Macdonald of Houston, Texas, and Angela (Matt) Miller of Arlington, Virginia; and, three great-grandchildren - Hiller Jennings, Donly Jennings, and Sydney Miller.

As her family often said, “Mary was a rock star, a real-life superhero, and an all-around amazing woman. Everyone who knew her is better for having known her.”

Champion-Bucheit Funeral Home 641-732-3706

SOURCE: Champion-Bucheit Funeral Home