MARY LOUISE GREER

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Mary Louise Greer, loving, devoted mother and grandmother, 89, died Tuesday, May 22, 2001, at the Chaffee Nursing Center.

She was born Dec. 1, 1911, on Rural Route 1, Chaffee, Mo., daughter of Frank and Katherine Schmitt. Since she was a granddaughter of immigrant German farmers, she spoke German in her youth as her primary language. She attended St. Lawrence School in New Hamburg, Mo., where she learned to speak English.

For most of her life, she was a resident of Chaffee. She was a member of St. Ambrose Catholic Parish and the Daughters of St. Ambrose.

Her children will remember her as a kind, loving and devoted mother. She enjoyed raising her own vegetables in her garden. Fishing was also a favorite pastime.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Byrl, who died in 1973; by her infant son, Paul David; and her stepson, John Greer of Phoenix, Ariz. She was also preceded in death by her parents, Frank and Katherine; brothers, Louis, Anton, William, and Theaon; and sisters, Rosa, Ida, Amma and Anna. She was also preceded in death by her nephew, Leo Schmitt of Pharr, Texas, whom she raised after his mother, Ida's, death.

She is survived by daughters, Rosemary Glenzy of Pinckneyville, Ill., La Verne Keller of Austin, Texas, and Judy Greer of Kansas City, Mo.; sons, Nelson Greer and Frank Greer, both of Tucson, Ariz.; 10 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

Her children are very grateful for the many years of loving care given to their mother by Gary Glenzy, her son-in-law, and her neighbors, Adolph, Rella and Stan Hahn.,

Friends may call after 4 p.m. Thursday at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Chaffee. There will be a parish prayer service at 7 p.m.

Funeral Mass will be at 10 a.m. Friday at St. Ambrose Catholic Church in Chaffee, with the Rev. Ralph Duffner officiating. Interment will follow in St. Lawrence Cemetery in New Hamburg.