Mary Louise (McConkey) Southard died on October 23, 2018, at the age of 69, just shy of her 70th birthday.
Mary was a loving daughter, sister, mother, grandmother, aunt, cousin and friend to all. Mary is survived by her four children Matthew, Deborah, Jonathan and Melissa, her grandchildren Daniel, Dillian and Mary, her sister Ann, her sister-in-law Beate, cousins Valerie, Denise, Elaine and Marilynn, her nieces and nephews, Laurie, Lorinda, Saxon, Michael, Susan, Samantha, Jason, Jacob; her great nieces and nephews MacKenzie, Maddeline, Annie, Rossi, Christen, Jack, Griffin, Nathan and Dashiell. She is preceded in death by her parents Vivian and Forest and her brother Forrest George.
Mary was born in Fremont Nebraska where her daddy called her the ‘Duchess of Logan Street.” She would fall asleep on the sacks of flour at their family owned doughnut shop, Dixie Cream Doughnuts. The family moved to Ballard, Washington when Mary was seven. There she met her lifelong friend, Debbie Mittelstadt. They were inseparable, going to school together and playing together. Mary and Debbie graduated from Ballard High School, class of 1967. Mary met her husband through Debbie and Steve Mittelstadt. Mary talked endlessly about all the fun times they had raising their kids together. Debbie has always been a huge support system to Mary, especially the past few years, as her health declined.
Mary was always young at heart. She loved puzzles, board games and cards. She and her older sister, Ann, played cards every day this past year. She loved to laugh and giggled all the time. Her sister said, ‘She was the only mommy I ever knew that got on the floor and played with her children.” She loved music and dancing. She loved anything scary. She would drag all her kids and nieces and nephews to Haunted Houses every year and always had scary movies playing! She had a natural love for anything artistic. She was forever rearranging her living room furniture. Her family has fond memories of her painting their living room windows with festive holiday themes and decorating their front porch with bales of hay and a scarecrow for Halloween. She went to beauty school after graduating, and from then on, was the resident haircutter in the family, even cutting her own hair until just recently. In addition to her children, she was a mother to all children in her orbit including nieces, nephews and friends. She spent her life devoted to her children and family.
Her grandson Dillian is quoted as saying, ‘She was the strongest woman I have ever known.”
Our thank you to Francis of Vineyard and especially her friends Louise, Verne, Sue Ann and Maxine, Rita, Jan and Elizabeth who led our Bible Study on Sundays and the people who cared for Mary in the ICU at Swedish of Edmonds.
Memorial Service to be held on Saturday November 3, 2018 at Vineyard Park 23008 56th Avenue West Mountlake Terrace.
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