Mary Ellen (Duregger) AVERY

AVERY, DUREGGER, HOFFMAN, FISHER, WORMAN, HENN, SORENSEN, BORUM, HILL

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 7/16/2010 at 12:36:54

GARNER, IA -- Mary Ellen Avery, 81, of Garner, died Wednesday (July 23, 1997) at the Concord Care Center. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at the United Methodist Church, with the Rev. Kay Hooper officiating. Burial will be in the Concord Township Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. today at the Cataldo Funeral Chapel, 160 E. Fourth St.

Mary Ellen Avery, the daughter of Edward and Alice (Hoffman) Duregger was born July 11, 1916, at Webster City. She moved with her family to the Swaledale area where she attended school. At an early age, she hired out as a nanny to help support herself and her family. On June 14, 1939, she was married to Harland Avery at his parents farm east of Goodell. They farmed east of Goodell and later southeast of Klemme, where she helped her husband farm and raise their family. In 1963, she began working at Concord Care Center until health problems required her to retire. In 1966, Harland and Mary moved from the family farm south of Klemme into Garner and established a Lawn Boy Service Center. In November of 1989, she had a stroke that partially paralyzed her and required her to make her home at Concord Care Center, where she lived until the time of her death. She enjoyed quilt making and sewing. She was a member of the United Methodist Church and U.M.W.

She is survived by her children, Mrs. Barbara Fisher and her husband, James, of Rowan; Mrs. Shirley Worman and her husband, John, of Garner, and Hal Avery and his wife, Janet, of Mason City; eight grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; her sisters and brothers, Mrs. Gladys Henn of Clear Lake; Fred Duregger and his wife, Helen, of Newport News, Va.; Virgil Duregger and his wife, Thelma, of Clear Lake; Mrs. Helen Sorensen of Alden; Bob Duregger of Hayward, Calif.; Mrs. Irene Sorensen of Castro Valley, Calif.; Leo Duregger and his wife, Edith, of Clear Lake;Edward Duregger of Garner, and Larry Borum and his wife, Abbie, of Orlando, Fla.; a sister-in-law, Fanny Duregger of Clear Lake; and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband, Harland, Oct. 13, 1990; her parents; an infant brother; a sister, Ida Mae Hill; and a brother, Al Duregger.

July 25, 1997
Mason City (Iowa) Globe Gazette