Obituary of Mary M. Mall

MARY M. MALL Mary Magdalena Mall, of Camas, WA, died Wed., May 10, 2006 of congestive heart failure at Cascade Retirement Inn in Vancouver. She was 93. Mary was born June 17, 1912 on a farm near Bowdle, SD. She was the youngest of 11 children born to Anton and Magdalena Braunstein. Her family moved to Aberdeen, SD, where she graduated from St. Mary's Academy. A job at Woolworth's earned her S9 a week until she found a clerk position with S.S. Kresge paying $13 a week, a good wage during the depression era. In 1939, she traveled west by train to help care for her niece's new-born son. She worked shortly for Crown Zellerbach Paper Mill in Camas. She met Ray Mall at a dance before returning to Aberdeen. Ray's courtship of Mary continued, and when he secretly switched her oneway train ticket home to a round-trip ticket, she returned to Camas. They married the following year, on March 15, 1940. Mary was preceded in death by Ray, her husband of 58 years, in 1998; her son-in-law, Reid Blackburn in 1980; and all her brothers and sisters. Mary is survived by; daughters, LaRhea Steele and husband Jerry; Gloryann Brace and husband, Mike; Marilyn Brownlee; Janine Lightheart and husband, Jeff Sr.; Fay Blackburn; 17 grandchildren; 25 great-grandchildren; and three great-great-grandchildren. Over the years, Mary held many jobs while raising five daughters in Camas. She worked at J.C. Penney, Coronet, and Forest Home Grocery. Mary and Ray enjoyed square-dancing and many trips to Ocean Park, WA. A favorite outing was joining friends and family for lunch at the Lakeside Chalet every Thursday and Sunday. She cherished spending lime with family, playing cards and sharing a bowl of her homemade vegetable soup. Mary was a member of Women of the Moose, American Legion Auxiliary, and 8 et 40 Clark County Salon 626. A funeral mass will be held May 15, 2006, at 11a.m. at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in Camas, with a Rosary vigil the previous evening, May 14. 2006, at 7:30p.m. Burial service at Camas Cemetery will follow the mass. Memorial contributions can be made to 8 et 40 Clark County Salon 626 for pediatric respiratory research. Straub's Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. To sign an online guestbook, visit www.straubsfuneralhome.com