Mary Ann Gerhartz
Mary Ann Gerhartz was born to eternal life on September 19, 2021. Mary was born in Fond du Lac on May 8, 1932 to Thomas and Ella Miller. On June 14, 1952 she married Don Gerhartz. Mary was predeceased by her parents and sister Helen Fletcher. Mary is survived by her husband Don of Fond du Lac, her sons Tom Gerhartz (Marcia) of Wauwatosa, Jim Gerhartz (Deb) of St. Paul, and grandchildren Rachel Caloia (Conor), Andy Gerhartz (Andrea), Paul Gerhartz (Lizzie), and great grandchildren Ella Caloia, Keegan Caloia and Baby Gerhartz. Mary loved them all and they all loved her!
Visitation will take place at Sacred Heart Catholic Church 200 S Peters Ave, Fond du Lac, WI on Tuesday September 28, 2021 from 10:30-12 noon, immediately followed by a Memorial Mass of Christian Burial at 12 noon. All are invited to attend to celebrate Mary’s life. Please wear a mask for the visitation and social distance for the Service.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a memorial donation to St. Agnesian Hospice Home of Hope or St. Mary’s Springs School.
Mary was a common, ordinary Fond du Lac woman who was not common nor ordinary!
Mary was a Fond du Lac lady all the way. She lived 30 years on Grant St. and 60 years on Roosevelt St. She attended St. Joseph Grade School and graduated from SMSA class of 1950. After high school she took a job in the Billing Department at the Power and Light Company for a few years until she had her first child. Later when her boys were in junior high school, she returned to work in the Medical Records Department at St. Agnes Hospital for 25 years. She always walked to work. Basically, she lived and worked within a two square mile area her entire life!
Mary was the only female in the MPTI woodworking class she attended for many years, where she learned to make many beautiful pieces of furniture, unique in design and perfect in their craftsmanship using the band saw, table saw, router, planner and other such equipment she had in her basement.
Mary rode her bicycle at least 600 miles every year for over 20 years until she was 84 years old. If you were in Lakeside Park over the years, you were sure to have seen her riding her bicycle.
Mary golfed weekly at the Evergreen Golf Course in North Fond du Lac well into her 80’s with her three golfing friends. Despite many lessons and much advice, she seldom was able to get the ball more than a few feet off the ground. It did not matter to her…she was there for the camaraderie and lunch after golf.
Mary also had many other interests during her lifetime. Ceramics, crocheting, sewing, finishing puzzles and making them into framed pictures were just a few of the crafty hobbies she had. She always liked to learn new things. She attended Music in the Park and performances at the Civic Center. She also liked to read and spend time doing so at the library. For many years, she volunteered at the hospital pushing people to their destinations and putting smiles on their faces.
In retirement Mary loved to travel. Often with Don, often on organized bus trips and often with her three travel friends. When she retired she made it clear that her pension was for one purpose and one purpose only and that was to travel, for which she set up a separate account for such funds. The four traveling ladies would take about a week long trip each year to explore a new city with Mary enjoying being the lead planner. By late in life they had been to every significant city in America. These four ladies had worked together as 20 year olds at the Power and Light Company and were still traveling together in their 80’s around the country! While Mary would go almost anywhere on the organized bus trips, Oneida Casino was one of her favorites…not so much for the gambling, but rather for the meal at Jim and Linda’s on the return trip!
Mary loved her many friends and had a lot of fun with them. The Power and Light Past and Present ladies, the Springs Girls, The Red Hatters Group, her golfing friends, her traveling friends and her Senior Center friends. They were all so very important to her and her enjoyment of life.
Mary could be somewhat of a worrywart, always considering the worst possible outcome. Maybe because she attended St. Joseph’s School, she had a fear of Fr. Riordan (who married Mary and Don in 1952). Sometime in the early 1960’s, planning to attend a Good Friday service she had almost walked the mile to St. Joseph’s church when she realized she had forgotten her money. Knowing that Fr. Riordan would shake the collection basket in front of those that did not quickly deposit a donation, she returned home with children in hand to get her money before returning to church.
Mary was a devoted Catholic who attended church every Sunday until physically unable to do so. For many years she was a volunteer who cleaned St. Patrick’s church. I guess she figured she would do whatever was necessary to make sure she had a ticket to heaven. For many years, Mary and her family attended the 12:10 Sunday Mass at St. Josephs which Fr. Riordan referred to as the “Sinners Mass” as he evidently assumed that those attending had been out late the night before…and as a result had the ushers charge a fee at the door. Despite the charge, the Mass always had an overflow crowd.
Mary’s two boys were also very important to her. She seldom missed a Little League game of the boys despite having to ride her bicycle to all the games. She also would sit in her warm coat on a park bench on those cold June mornings as she watched the boys take swim lessons in the cold water of the Taylor Park pool. She was close to them all through her life. She continued to refer to the boys old bedroom as the “boys room” even when the boys were in their 60s! They would always be “the boys”. When the boys left for home after visiting her, she was always at the front door of her house to wave “good bye” and asked them to call her when safely home, even when the boys were in their 60s!
As much as Mary loved her boys, she could be tough on them. When they were young, she disciplined via a fear of a paddling with The Brush. She had the Zero Degree Rule which meant that if it was above zero degrees the boys had to walk the mile to school. On very cold days, all would listen to the radio before school and a 2-degree day was a real bummer for the boys. On the other hand, 2 below zero was a real reason for the boys to celebrate as a ride in the car would be coming. In the summer, she also had the “Cannot leave the house before 9am” rule even though the boys were chomping at the bit to get to the local playgrounds. Early bed times were also enforced during the summers, it did not matter that it was still light out. She also had one of the boys removed from his 8th grade football team because of alleged classroom behavior problems. While the boys loved her, there are somethings they cannot forget!
Years later, when one of the boys proudly told her he had obtained a job after college, she expressed that she was very happy for him. However, her only advice was, “Keep your nose to the grindstone.”
Mary loved her three grandchildren, both as children and as adults and they truly loved her back as they Face-timed her often to talk and make sure she was doing well. When they were younger, annual trips with Grandma to the apple orchard to pick out pumpkins were important to both them and her and for almost 20 years she took a picture of all the grand kids together on the same swing at Lakeside Park.
Mary was easy going and never showed anger, never raised her voice. A sweet lady. Foul language was never heard in her household. She had a lot of common sense and was a practical problem solver.
Mary was a Breast Cancer Survivor for nearly 20 years, although it finally reared its ugly head in her last few years. She was kind of a medical miracle in that she lived to the age of 89 despite eating a crazy amount of sweets and drinking very little water. Basically, she liked sugar and disliked water.
On May 8, 1932 this life began and on September 19, 2021 this life on earth came to an end as Mary was accepted into the arms of Jesus Christ whom she believed in throughout her life.
And so was the life of a not so common nor ordinary common, ordinary Fond du Lac woman.