COURTNEY, Mary Loretta 1923-2000

HARRIS, DALEY, COURTNEY

Posted By: IAGenWeb Volunteer
Date: 9/1/2010 at 16:42:09

Decorah Journal, Thursday, Jan. 20, 2000

Mary Courtney

Mary Loretta Courtney, 76, of Ossian and formerly of Waukon, died Friday, Jan. 14, 2000, at the Ossian Senior Hospice after a short illness.

A funeral mass was held Tuesday, Jan. 18, at 11 a.m., at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church in Ossian, with the Rev. Msgr. Cletus Hawes officiating.

Al Sensor was the organist for congregational singing. Pam Daley was the soloist and Brad Courtney was the trumpeter.

Dave Daley was the lector. Offertory gifts were received by the grandchildren. Eucharistic ministers were Greg and Rosie Courtney and Dolly Panos.

Casket bearers were Leo McKenna, Joe Magner, Walter Kurth, Jeff Magner, Dennis Donovan and Dave Daley.

Honorary bearers were Colleen Brown, Jeanne Anderson, Dr. Carla
Rogers and Mary Ann Witt. In honorary attendance were members of the Catholic Daughters of the Americas Court No. 983.

Interment was at the St. Bridget's Cemetery in Bluffton. The Schmitz Funeral Home of Ossian handled arrangements.

Mary (Daley) was born Jan. 26, 1923, in rural Howard County, the daughter of John J. and Loretta L. (Harris) Daley. She was baptized and confirmed at Holy Cross Catholic Church in Schley.

Mary received her education by attending her neighborhood country school and graduated from Assumption Catholic High School in Cresco in 1941. She furthered her education by attending Mt. St. Claire College in Clinton and Luther College in Decorah.

She received her teaching degree from Iowa State Teachers College in Cedar Falls. Mary taught school in the Howard County country schools for around 15 years.

On Feb. 16, 1960, she was united in marriage to Paul Courtney at Assumption Catholic Church in Cresco. They moved to a farm in the Forest Mills area and later purchased a farm near Rossville, in Allamakee County,

Here Mary belonged to St. Pius Catholic Church at Cherry Mound for 30 years. Through these years, she was a devoted farm wife.

After her husband's death in 1993 Mary moved to Ossian.

She was a member of St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church and its Rosary Society; Catholic Daughters of the Americas No. 983 and the Ossian Senior Citizens Club, where she served as vice president. Mary enjoyed reading and prayer.

For seven years, she served as a volunteer at the Ossian Senior Hospice and in 1997 Mary received the Iowa Volunteer Hall of Fame Award for Winneshiek County for outstanding leadership in volunteering in the State of Iowa.

Survivors include one son, Greg and Rosie Courtney of Columbia, Mo., and their sons, Michael, Brad and Keith and one daughter, Eileen Courtney of Ossian and her fiance, Gerald Hemesath and his children, Travis and Melinda.

Also surviving are two brothers, John R. and Mildred Daley, and William L. and Wilma Daley, all of Cresco and several nieces and nephews.

Mary Courtney was preceded in death by her husband, Paul Courtney in 1993; one brother, James M. Daley; and two sisters, Ruth Ellen Daley and Sister Angela (Nellie) Daley.

Transcribed by an IA GenWeb Volunteer from obituaries found in the Howard-Winneshiek Genealogy Society Library, Cresco, Iowa.