Mae F Christian

CHRISTIAN, MARTIN, SCHROEDER, PERKINS, HELLENTHAL, MORRISON, TEMPERO, PERKINS, TAN

Posted By: Char Hixon (email)
Date: 4/23/2015 at 16:22:52

Mae Florence Christian
October 31, 1922 – April 22, 2015

Nichols, Iowa – Mae Florence Christian, 92, died Wednesday April 22, 2015, at her home.

Funeral service will be held 11 a.m. Friday, April 24, 2015, at the Christian Church in Nichols. Visitation will be held 1 hour prior to services at the church. Burial will be in the Nichols Cemetery. If you choose to make a donation in her memory, make it to the Christian Church of Nichols. In her memory, plant a flower in the spring. Hibiscus was one of her favorites but she never met a flower she didn’t like.

Mae was born October 31, 1922, on a farm near Wilton, the daughter of Otto and Hilda Martin Schroeder. She went to the White Pigeon School where she prided herself on winning spelling bees. She left home at the age of 14 to keep house and tend others’ children, sleeping on closet floors. She moved to Rock Island and was employed at the Arsenal, “the best job ever,” where she met Claude. She was united in marriage to Claude “Bill” Christian. They lived in Rock Island, Wilton and in 1957 moved to the farm in Nichols. A year later Bill died of cancer leaving Mae to raise her children, tend the farm and work. She worked at Louis Rich, Roy’s Tap, Wink’s and at the Lone Tree Care Center as well as additional seasonal jobs. She retired from the Care Center when she was 80. Work was important to her and she would frequently end a conversation with “Better let you go so you can get your work done.” She didn’t relish ‘free time’ nor did she know what to do with it.

Survivors include three children: Joyce (John) Perkins of Des Moines, Connie (Frank) Hellenthal of Cedar Rapids, and Jerry Morrison of West Liberty. She is also survived by her grandchildren: Megan (Howard) Tempero, Joe Perkins, Amanda Hellenthal, Melissa (Bernard) Tan, and great grandchildren: Rezin, Corbet, Islalucia and Aristella Tempero, as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

Preceding her in death were her parents and all her siblings: Ray, Wayne, Ray (Junior), Edna, Eugene, and Darlene.

She was determined to stay on the farm until she died, which she did because of wonderful friends and neighbors.