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Mary Ehlers Obituary

    Among the first women to swim across Lake Pepin, no doubt the first to do it round trip.  A welcome sight to woe-begotten stray cats and dogs.  A “friend’s friend,” on the doorstep with a casserole, at the wheel for those needing a ride, an “Angie’s List” of advice, counsel and tips for newcomers.  
    These were some of the observations of classmates and friends of Mary Ehlers when news of her death last Thursday night (Sept. 13, 2018) began to circulate.  
    Services will be at 11 a.m. Thursday, Sept.  20, at the First Congregational Church with lunch reception immediately following.  
    Mary was the daughter of Larry and Esther Oberg, publishers for four decades of the Lake City Graphic, and she carried forward her father’s perpetual positive spin on life and her mother’s alpha streak and grit.  
    Medical challenges that would have driven lesser souls to depression and despair were waved away without complaint—colon cancer, stroke, heart valves, breast cancer. When, not too long ago, Mary was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, she and daughter Chrissy shared a chuckle and a “what next?”
    Her energy and athleticism first attracted attention when she swam Lake Pepin shore-to-shore beginning in high school and continuing into her late 50s when daughter Chrissy swam alongside from Stockholm to Lake City. When she was 21, she was recruited by the Minneapolis Aqua Follies for a team performing synchronized swimming, water ballet and theater.  The team then went to Seattle to perform for 10 days as part of the city’s annual Seafair celebration.
    She also was an avid golfer, could hit off the tee for 250 yards, and had two holes in one on the Lake City Country Club course, one in 1994 with a five-wood on the seventh hole and one in 2000 with an eight-iron on 13.  In 1956, the first year the local course had grass greens, her father had scored an ace.  
    In junior high, Mary had a penchant for adventure which she shared with her friend and classmate Shari Wiebusch (Norberg). They entered through a dank and spooky basement to explore the abandoned and deteriorating Rahilly mansion off County Road  15, rode their bicycles to Frontenac and back, and hiked some three miles up and over the bluffs that brought them to Highway 61 and the Terrace Supper Club.
    Another classmate, Phyllis Whempner Gilbert, recalls Mary having bravely taken the administration of justice into her own hands at a young age:
    “I first met Mary more than 70 years ago when we were in the same Sunday school class at the ‘old’ First Congregational Church.  We were quiet, well-behaved girls who were soon shocked by the behavior of one kid who, after reaching into the collection box to deposit his nickel, would grab a fist of coins for himself. This went on for some time until we had had enough.
    “When we saw him standing by his bike outside the church after class one Sunday, Mary politely confronted him about his deviant behavior; he blustered, sneered at and mocked us. Mary took divine intervention into her own hands. She wordlessly kicked his bicycle onto the ground and began jumping with both feet on the back wheel.  Spokes, nuts and bolts flew every which way, including onto the sidewalk where elderly congregants were on their way into church. Mary kept jumping determinedly, skirt flying, red-cheeked, ignoring their disapproving glances. I, on the other hand, was very impressed by her style and we became fast friends.”
    Mary’s life story would be incomplete without reference to her long-time friend, Pat Brown, and the faux rivalry they concocted to exchange barbs, usually centered on whose recipe was best or whose kitchen skills excelled.  
Mary, Pat and The Grand Parade Caper: Mary, costumed as Uncle Sam, and Pat as Lady Liberty played the nursing home circuit for a few years when a show of patriotism was appropriate. But when invitations to return dried up, they were an act without a venue—until, in 1995, the District One Legionnaires held their convention in Lake City with a Grand Parade as part of it.  Although not officially registered as participants, “we just put on our costumes and jumped right in,” Mary recalled later.  The judges created a “Special Unit” plaque after the fact to recognize Sam and Liberty, awarding the duo second place. Pat was disappointed. “How come,” she asked Mary, “we didn’t get first place?”
    Sept. 13, the date of Mary’s death, carries special meaning. Her mother was born on Sept. 13, and her dear friend Pat died on the same date two years earlier.
    Mary’s competitive nature extended to chili competitions and in 2012 she was still feeling bruised by a second place finish eight years earlier in a regional cook-off.  The $100 in prize money did not mollify her and she said openly that “free-flowing beverages may have adversely affected the judges’ taste buds.”
    For 15 years, she ran the annual First Congregational Church chili supper, keeping secret the recipe she had perfected over the years.  In a rare interview on the subject, she may have slipped up in revealing one key ingredient, Clamato juice, as she pointed out it had doubled in price over her time as supper chair.
    She also aimed to outsell the competition peddling raffle tickets on an annual basis to benefit the Hiawatha Animal Humane Society, often targeting peers who had no pets of their own and little use for a quilt should they win.
    Mary was active in the Woman’s Club and served on the First Congregational Church board. She enjoyed playing cards, getting birthday celebrants together, and engaging with her Lake City granddaughter, Gracie, now 14.  
    Mary was born in Lake City on May 17, 1939, to Larry and Esther (Pohlman) Oberg.  She and Morris (Moe) Ehlers were married in Lake City on July 12, 1985.  
    She was preceded in death by her parents, sister Nancy (Lewis), nephew Mark Lewis, first husband Buzz Gooding, her beloved dog “Cheer” and cat “Bobby.”  Her surviving cat “Tommy,” somewhat slimmed down from the 25 pounds he once weighed on Mary’s “White Castle” diet, remains a lapful.
    Survivors include her husband, Moe, Lake City; daughters, Chrissy (Robin) McNeill of Lake City and Amy Gooding of St. Louis, Mo.; step-children, Cindy and Todd Ehlers; grandchildren, Grace McNeill, Lucas Turnbull and Blake Martinelli;  step-grandchildren, Dustin, Corey and Abby McNeill; niece, Debbie (Chuck) Hurley; and nephew, Todd (Pam) Lewis.
    In lieu of flowers, the family suggests support for the Hiawatha Animal Humane Society, PO Box 215, Lake City, MN 55041.
 

The Lake City Graphic

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ISSN 2994-1059 (print)  ISSN 2994-1067 (online)