KAHLER, Mary E. (1930-2020)

KAHLER

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 5/4/2020 at 14:48:18

Mary Elizabeth Kahler
(January 29, 1930 - March 6, 2020)

A funeral mass for Mary Elizabeth Kahler, 90, who passed away peacefully, Friday, March 6, 2020 at Martina Place in Johnston, IA, will be held 10 a.m., Thursday, March 12, 2020 at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, St. Marys, IA. Interment will follow in the St. Marys Cemetery.
Mary was born January 29, 1930 to Tom and June (Reynolds) Lippold and grew up in St. Marys, IA. She met the man who won her heart, Frederick (Fritz) Kahler, while working at Valley Bank in Des Moines, IA and followed him to Texas where they married on October 15, 1950. After spending a few years in Texas, they moved back to Iowa to be closer to family.
Family meant everything to Mary. She was immensely proud of her family and made each one feel special. She always enjoyed telling everyone that she was the proud mother of two sets of twins with single birth “bookends.” After the birth of the second set of twins, Mary and Fritz decided farm life was their next adventure and they moved to Sigourney, IA--where they lived for 32 years raising their family, pigs, cows, sheep, dogs, goats –you name it, they gave it a whirl. Mary planted a huge garden and tended a large orchard and canned everything that grew to feed her growing children—and worked at Farmer’s Savings Bank when the nest got emptier and she finally got a driver’s license!
In 1995 she moved back home to St. Marys and made many friends working at JoRo’s. Following the death of her husband in 2001, Mary was embraced by her Thirsty Thursday group of friends. She also shared many trips and memories with the Red Hat ladies where she was always ready with a joke or story. She loved having fun and everyone who met her fell in love with her generous heart, love of life and sense of humor. Mary cherished lasting friendships across the US and Canada with the St. Marys Conferences she attended. She was so proud of her hometown of St. Marys and actively served on the City Council until she was 89 years old.
Mary enjoyed reading, playing sequence, dancing, and traveling with friends and family. While on a trip to Italy she mastered the art of making Limoncello and bottled her own frog label-Mary’s Leapin’ Limoncello: It will make you hoppy!
Her whole life was devoted to raising and caring for her children. She gave real definition to the word Mother.
Her children and family left to cherish her memory are: Chuck (Linda) Kahler, Jim (Ruby) Kahler, Jane (Marty) Herrmann, Joan Martinson (Monte Michael), John (Mary) Kahler, Curt (Amy) Kahler; 17 grandchildren and 25 great-grandchildren; siblings, Margaret Spencer, Jerome (Kathie) Lippold, John (Gwen) Lippold, Sharon (Jim) Findley; and hundreds of nieces and nephews. Mary was preceded in death by her husband; parents; brother, Thomas “Tim” Lippold; and sister, Therese “Tootie” Crawford.
A visitation will be held from 5 to 8 p.m., Wednesday, March 11 at St. Marys Parish Hall, St. Marys. A rosary will be recited at 7:30 p.m. Memorials may be given in Mary’s name to the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church or the Pink Tractor Foundation.
This memorial is provided by Overton Funeral Home, 501 West Ashland Ave., Indianola, Iowa, http://www.overtonfuneral.com/