Mary Ellen Kirsch
April 12, 2012
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Service Details
Mary Ellen Kirsch, 85, passed away on April 12, 2012. Family will greet friends on Tuesday, April 17, 2012 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Hamilton’s on Westown Parkway, 3601 Westown Pkwy in West Des Moines. Private burial will be at Resthaven Cemetery.
Mary Ellen was born on September 18, 1926 to Joe and Kitty McMahon in Fort Dodge, Iowa. She attended Drake University and then married Arthur “Bud” Kirsch on May 31, 1948. Mary Ellen was a homemaker and raised three wonderful children. She was an accomplished pianist and volunteered at Mercy playing the piano in the lobby for many years. She was also an avid reader.
Her memory will be treasured by her children, son, John Kirsch of Mazatlan, Mexico; daughters, Kitty Jacobson of San Francisco, CA and Sue Bechtel of Clive, IA; grandchildren, Matthew and Jessica; sisters, Jane and Donna; and many other family members. Mary was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; and brother, Joe.
Memorial contributions may be directed to the Sierra Club, of which Mary Ellen was a member.
Online condolences may be expressed at www.HamiltonsFuneralHome.com.
Jonathan & Susanne McMahon
04/17/2012
To: Kitty and Jessica; John; Susan, Michael and Matthew.
Aunt Jane; Janie and Family; Tee and Family; Bill and Family.
Uncle Dick and Aunt Donna; Tom, Erin and Family; Peter, Jen and Family;
Ann, Paul and Family.
Michael and Susan; Robert and David.
Martha and John; Joe, Renee and Blair; Steven and Elizabeth.
Susanne and I want to extend our condolences to all of you who knew and loved
Mary Ellen and to anyone else who knew and cared about her.
In life she was a wonderful person; bright, warm and caring, generous with her time and spirit and posseing and exuding a calm inner peace and strenght of character that struck everyone fortunate enough to have known her.
I will always cherish my memories of her, from early childhood recollections of time spent at summer reunions at the Mitchell 'cottage" and later at the cottage that Nanna and Grampaw owned at Lake Okobojii, IA, where dispite being a busy young mother caring for her own children, she always made time to listen patiently to the endless childhood babble of her nieces and nephews and to always have an encouraging word or smile to share with us all. At later family gatherings, such as the too infrequent family reunions, weddings and funerals, I remember in the same way, as the calm center of the whirlwind going on about her.
Later in her life, after losing her beloved husband "Bud" she and my mother, Suzanne, who was also a widow by that time, became very close and spoke frequently on the telephone or kept in touch with cards and letters of encouragement.
I will treasure my memories of Aunt MAry Ellen dearly in my heart and hope that all of you will find solace in the knowledge that she made the lives of many she touched much better than they would have otherwise been. So, dispite the tears, gather around a piano and send her off in style!
Sincerely,
Jonathan and Susanne McMahon
6200 Baronie Ct.
Fuquay Varina, NC 27526-7267
919-557-0637
Pate McMahon Schuh
04/16/2012
May God grant Mary Ellen eternal rest & peace with her many relatives in heaven. God Bless & deepest sympathy to her sister's and children & grandchildren. Love, 1st cousin's Pate McMahon Schuh, Joan McMahon Smith, Maureen McMahon Hay, Anna Marie McMahon Best, Mortimer McMahon Jr.
Mary (Gadd) Nolan
04/15/2012
When I was growing up in Fort Dodge, Iowa I wanted to be Mary Ellen McMahon. She was beautiful, nice and played piano like an angel.