Mary was an adoring Wife, Mother, and Grandmother. She built a beautiful life with her husband, walking side-by-side, finishing college, raising kids, moving from Chicago to St Louis to Kansas City and the Lake of the Ozarks, building strong careers and staying involved in her faith through music, teaching, and volunteer work. She looked forward to their weekend trips to the lake at their cabin in Warsaw, Mo and bringing her family together. She loved sharing stories about her kids and spoiling her grandchildren.
She received her Bachelor’s degree from Eastern Illinois University and a Master’s degree from Avila University. Mary had a passion for teaching middle and high schoolers math and for the last portion of her career she dedicated her energies in service to underprivileged students in the Catholics school system. Her career focused on Catholic education through teaching positions including St. Viator’s High School in Palatine, IL, St. Mary Magdalen grade school in Saint Louis, MO, St. Agnus grade school in Rowland Park, KS, All Saints grade school in Kansas City, KS and Bishop Ward High School in Kansas City, KS. She also taught in the public high schools in Chicago, Kansas City, KS, and Lincoln, MO. She liked to teach Algebra and encouraged students to see and use math in functional ways.
Mary was an active member of the Catholic Church. She enjoyed playing the guitar and singing with the parish Folk Groups. Even though her husband took on the official titles of director, Mary was the real authority behind each group by managing the scheduling and song selection for each Mass.
Throughout her life, Mary was an avid reader of almost any genre, loved cats (a special soft spot for orange tabby’s) and crafting. Over the past few years she took pride in the number of books that she would read in a year and actually finished one year reading a book a day for a total of more than 365 books during that year! Mary also made many colorful cross-stitch projects and her home-made personalized cards brought smiles to family and friends. For several years recently she made and donated hundreds of cards to US service members posted over seas.
Mary went home to her Lord on May, 24, 2022, surrounded by her devoted husband and her kids. She is survived by her husband Michael, three children Lauren (Brett), John (Olivia), Cathlyn (Michael), six grandchildren: Max, Zerek, Mason, Alexander, Noah, Harper, and her brother William (Nancy).
Visitation will be held from 2:00-4:00 p.m. Monday, May 30, at the Porter Funeral Home, 8535 Monrovia Lenexa, KS 66215. The Funeral Mass will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, May 31, at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, 13615 W. 92nd St. Lenexa, KS 66215. Burial will follow at St. John's Cemetery, Lenexa, KS.
In lieu of flowers, our family requests that donations be made to Our Lady of Hope Catholic School. Donations can be sent to: Our Lady of Hope, attn: Mary Delac, Principal, 4232 Mercier, Kansas City, MO, 64111.