Mary was born in Parma, Idaho on February 15, 1922 to Walter and Lucy von Marenholtz. She was the second of their five children. She was a remarkable woman and led a very interesting life. She was nine years old when her family left America for Germany. She was an Idaho farm girl who became a baron's daughter. Her father, the youngest of seven children, inherited the ancestral estates in northern Germany in 1930. Walter Paul von Marenholtz officially became Baron von Marenholtz, owner of four estates and extensive properties. His family was all entered into the nobility registry of Germany.
In 1931, Mary and her family (then consisting of her parents, older sister Mildred and younger brother Walter Melton) headed for Germany. They first stopped in Missouri to say good bye to both sets of her grandparents, Carl and Lena von Marenholtz and Dr. Steven Melton and his second wife, Minnie. On to New York, they rode an ocean liner on the Hamburg line and ended up in Dieckhorst-Mueden.
She learned German from a tutor with the rest of her family and went to school in the nearby town of Celle, taking the local train with her older sister, Mildred.
Her family settled into their new life in Dieckhorst, exploring the town and estate with her younger brother and sisters. Her parents, Muttie and Pop, took she, Mildred, Walter and little Lucy on trips to the North Sea on vacation. She also recalled attending the Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936.
Mary met Gus Voetelink in Germany at her sister's 1939 wedding but married him in Amsterdam on March 30th, 1944. (An interesting note is that she did not know until she was in her 80's that her parents had arranged Gus and her to meet! The matchmaking was discussed in an old letter to their aunt and uncle that was on file with the State of Idaho's vital records division. Mary recounted watching a very tall man getting out of a small sports car; it was Gus.) After their marriage, they stayed in Amsterdam during World War 2. Her mother-in-law, Hermina Voetelink, had a very nice reception for them at her home. Gus was a member of the Dutch Underground and fought the Nazi occupation and Mary would help him. Mary said she could be and was very blunt and hostile with any German soldier trying to question her. Her father-in-law, the Dutch Ambassador to Portugal, would get her phony passes to go to Berlin. Mary would stop at her parents' estate in Dieckhorst, Germany. Being a Baroness was intimidating in those days and even some SS soldiers carried her bags for her not knowing that she had strategic information inside that was being supplied to the British via the Dutch underground.
The war atmosphere was different in occupied Amsterdam than at her parent's home. Food was scarce and the couple wrote of being hungry in their last communication to her parents before War's end. Mary's sister, Lucy, recalled that Gus's father helped Mary get a pass to come home to Dieckhorst during the war and she returned with three suitcases of food. Mary and Gus had even resorted to boiling tulip bulbs to eat. She recalled eating flowers, which were okay if fresh, otherwise they tasted bitter.
During one visit during war time, Mary innocently asked Mildred's mother-in-law, Lucie Bigadonsky Erdmann (who lived at Dieckhorst), where her son Siegfried was. Siegfried was a rocket scientist who worked with Werner von Braun. Lucie, who was elderly and known to be hard of hearing, told Mary he was at Peenemunde, information Mary passed on to Gus to pass on to the Allies. Peenemunde was later bombed by the Allies.
In 1946, right after the war, Mildred and her children came to Amsterdam on their way to returning to America. Mary remembered that when Mildred's baby son was born there in Amsterdam, she and Gus decided to entertain Mildred's older children by taking them to see fireworks. Instead of having a good time, their nephews were terrified thinking bombs were being dropped.
A year after her sister returned to America, Mary and Gus left Amsterdam with her parents, sister Lucy and brother Bob on a ship headed for Canada. She and Bob recalled that while they were in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, a terrible storm arose. The ship was not ballasted correctly, if at all, and was practically rolling over, swaying back and forth. They watched their father "Pop" holding onto their baggage with both hands, scooting across the floor of their cabin. A man across the hall on a chair was sliding out into the hallway and back again. The captain announced that there was nothing he could do and that the passengers should tie themselves in! The storm blew them off course, lengthening the already long trip. Finally they arrived in Toronto.
She and Gus went with Pop and family to Missouri first, to visit family. Then they left her parents and went by bus to go job hunting with Gus. He accepted a position in Oklahoma with Phillips Petroleum. Mary was with Gus in Switzerland; Tehran, Iran; and Saudi Arabia and knows how to converse in five languages. She and Gus lived in Iran for about five years and had many stories of the austere conditions in that country. Mary hired a woman named Hadji to help at the house. All food had to be soaked for a half hour in order to be safe to eat. She remembers that after a half-hour soaking, strawberries were pretty mushy. In Iran they had a houseboy who took the keys to their car and crashed it. He figured since he could drive an ass, he could drive a car!
Mary said she was always a shy child who liked to hide when there were parties when she was young. She was also a good mimic and was able to pick up languages. Mary was in Seattle visiting and recalled showing her four year-old great niece an atlas of the world. She showed her where she used to live. First, Holland; with Mary speaking a phrase in Dutch. On to Switzerland, with Mary speaking French. Then Tehran, where Mary spoke a phrase in Parsi. Mary laughed as she recounted how her little niece retorted, "Well, I speak Seattle!"
Mary and Gus both retired and lived in their two bedroom home in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. They kept their unique home even when working overseas. The home was designed for privacy and has a wooded territorial view of trees and visiting birds and squirrels. The home had been featured in Sunset Magazine when it was built. Mary entertained many of Gus's business contacts here. Some of these business associates turned into life-long friends.
Her brother recalls that her Airedale, Benny, only understood Dutch. However, he knew cookie in any language!
In 1997, at the age of 75, Mary drove from Oklahoma to Washington State to visit family and attend a niece's graduation. In 2000, she again drove cross country and drove north into Canada, driving their highway west above Washington state. From there she and Gus drove down to visit sisters Lucy in Washington and Mildred in Oregon, before returning home.
She lost her husband of 59 years in 2003. Mary recalled again when she met Gus, "There was Christmas snow still on the ground and Gus arrived with the top down on his car. He was wearing evening clothes for Millie's wedding. Gus was 6 feet, 2 inches tall."
Mary moved into an assisted living facility in 2005. She was 84 years old when she passed away on August 7th, 2006. Mary's last wishes included the scattering of her and Gus's ashes in the mountains. The ashes were disbursed atop Mount Walker in the Cascades in Washington state - the north side has a view of Victoria, Canada. It is a beautiful area.
A wake was held for Mary on August 12th at the family reunion at River Run Farm in Clatskanie, Oregon. Trees for both Mary and Gus were planted in their honor. A memorial service in Bartlesville was held August 25th.โผ(Oklahoma Statewide Deaths Published Thursday, August 24, 2006 in The Oklahoman) * VOETELINK, Mary Louise, 84, homemaker, died Aug. 7. Services 10:30 a.m. Friday (Neekamp-Luginbuel, Bartlesville).
In 1931, Mary and her family (then consisting of her parents, older sister Mildred and younger brother Walter Melton) headed for Germany. They first stopped in Missouri to say good bye to both sets of her grandparents, Carl and Lena von Marenholtz and Dr. Steven Melton and his second wife, Minnie. On to New York, they rode an ocean liner on the Hamburg line and ended up in Dieckhorst-Mueden.
She learned German from a tutor with the rest of her family and went to school in the nearby town of Celle, taking the local train with her older sister, Mildred.
Her family settled into their new life in Dieckhorst, exploring the town and estate with her younger brother and sisters. Her parents, Muttie and Pop, took she, Mildred, Walter and little Lucy on trips to the North Sea on vacation. She also recalled attending the Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936.
Mary met Gus Voetelink in Germany at her sister's 1939 wedding but married him in Amsterdam on March 30th, 1944. (An interesting note is that she did not know until she was in her 80's that her parents had arranged Gus and her to meet! The matchmaking was discussed in an old letter to their aunt and uncle that was on file with the State of Idaho's vital records division. Mary recounted watching a very tall man getting out of a small sports car; it was Gus.) After their marriage, they stayed in Amsterdam during World War 2. Her mother-in-law, Hermina Voetelink, had a very nice reception for them at her home. Gus was a member of the Dutch Underground and fought the Nazi occupation and Mary would help him. Mary said she could be and was very blunt and hostile with any German soldier trying to question her. Her father-in-law, the Dutch Ambassador to Portugal, would get her phony passes to go to Berlin. Mary would stop at her parents' estate in Dieckhorst, Germany. Being a Baroness was intimidating in those days and even some SS soldiers carried her bags for her not knowing that she had strategic information inside that was being supplied to the British via the Dutch underground.
The war atmosphere was different in occupied Amsterdam than at her parent's home. Food was scarce and the couple wrote of being hungry in their last communication to her parents before War's end. Mary's sister, Lucy, recalled that Gus's father helped Mary get a pass to come home to Dieckhorst during the war and she returned with three suitcases of food. Mary and Gus had even resorted to boiling tulip bulbs to eat. She recalled eating flowers, which were okay if fresh, otherwise they tasted bitter.
During one visit during war time, Mary innocently asked Mildred's mother-in-law, Lucie Bigadonsky Erdmann (who lived at Dieckhorst), where her son Siegfried was. Siegfried was a rocket scientist who worked with Werner von Braun. Lucie, who was elderly and known to be hard of hearing, told Mary he was at Peenemunde, information Mary passed on to Gus to pass on to the Allies. Peenemunde was later bombed by the Allies.
In 1946, right after the war, Mildred and her children came to Amsterdam on their way to returning to America. Mary remembered that when Mildred's baby son was born there in Amsterdam, she and Gus decided to entertain Mildred's older children by taking them to see fireworks. Instead of having a good time, their nephews were terrified thinking bombs were being dropped.
A year after her sister returned to America, Mary and Gus left Amsterdam with her parents, sister Lucy and brother Bob on a ship headed for Canada. She and Bob recalled that while they were in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, a terrible storm arose. The ship was not ballasted correctly, if at all, and was practically rolling over, swaying back and forth. They watched their father "Pop" holding onto their baggage with both hands, scooting across the floor of their cabin. A man across the hall on a chair was sliding out into the hallway and back again. The captain announced that there was nothing he could do and that the passengers should tie themselves in! The storm blew them off course, lengthening the already long trip. Finally they arrived in Toronto.
She and Gus went with Pop and family to Missouri first, to visit family. Then they left her parents and went by bus to go job hunting with Gus. He accepted a position in Oklahoma with Phillips Petroleum. Mary was with Gus in Switzerland; Tehran, Iran; and Saudi Arabia and knows how to converse in five languages. She and Gus lived in Iran for about five years and had many stories of the austere conditions in that country. Mary hired a woman named Hadji to help at the house. All food had to be soaked for a half hour in order to be safe to eat. She remembers that after a half-hour soaking, strawberries were pretty mushy. In Iran they had a houseboy who took the keys to their car and crashed it. He figured since he could drive an ass, he could drive a car!
Mary said she was always a shy child who liked to hide when there were parties when she was young. She was also a good mimic and was able to pick up languages. Mary was in Seattle visiting and recalled showing her four year-old great niece an atlas of the world. She showed her where she used to live. First, Holland; with Mary speaking a phrase in Dutch. On to Switzerland, with Mary speaking French. Then Tehran, where Mary spoke a phrase in Parsi. Mary laughed as she recounted how her little niece retorted, "Well, I speak Seattle!"
Mary and Gus both retired and lived in their two bedroom home in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. They kept their unique home even when working overseas. The home was designed for privacy and has a wooded territorial view of trees and visiting birds and squirrels. The home had been featured in Sunset Magazine when it was built. Mary entertained many of Gus's business contacts here. Some of these business associates turned into life-long friends.
Her brother recalls that her Airedale, Benny, only understood Dutch. However, he knew cookie in any language!
In 1997, at the age of 75, Mary drove from Oklahoma to Washington State to visit family and attend a niece's graduation. In 2000, she again drove cross country and drove north into Canada, driving their highway west above Washington state. From there she and Gus drove down to visit sisters Lucy in Washington and Mildred in Oregon, before returning home.
She lost her husband of 59 years in 2003. Mary recalled again when she met Gus, "There was Christmas snow still on the ground and Gus arrived with the top down on his car. He was wearing evening clothes for Millie's wedding. Gus was 6 feet, 2 inches tall."
Mary moved into an assisted living facility in 2005. She was 84 years old when she passed away on August 7th, 2006. Mary's last wishes included the scattering of her and Gus's ashes in the mountains. The ashes were disbursed atop Mount Walker in the Cascades in Washington state - the north side has a view of Victoria, Canada. It is a beautiful area.
A wake was held for Mary on August 12th at the family reunion at River Run Farm in Clatskanie, Oregon. Trees for both Mary and Gus were planted in their honor. A memorial service in Bartlesville was held August 25th.โผ(Oklahoma Statewide Deaths Published Thursday, August 24, 2006 in The Oklahoman) * VOETELINK, Mary Louise, 84, homemaker, died Aug. 7. Services 10:30 a.m. Friday (Neekamp-Luginbuel, Bartlesville).
Mary was born in Parma, Idaho on February 15, 1922 to Walter and Lucy von Marenholtz. She was the second of their five children. She was a remarkable woman and led a very interesting life. She was nine years old when her family left America for Germany. She was an Idaho farm girl who became a baron's daughter. Her father, the youngest of seven children, inherited the ancestral estates in northern Germany in 1930. Walter Paul von Marenholtz officially became Baron von Marenholtz, owner of four estates and extensive properties. His family was all entered into the nobility registry of Germany.
In 1931, Mary and her family (then consisting of her parents, older sister Mildred and younger brother Walter Melton) headed for Germany. They first stopped in Missouri to say good bye to both sets of her grandparents, Carl and Lena von Marenholtz and Dr. Steven Melton and his second wife, Minnie. On to New York, they rode an ocean liner on the Hamburg line and ended up in Dieckhorst-Mueden.
She learned German from a tutor with the rest of her family and went to school in the nearby town of Celle, taking the local train with her older sister, Mildred.
Her family settled into their new life in Dieckhorst, exploring the town and estate with her younger brother and sisters. Her parents, Muttie and Pop, took she, Mildred, Walter and little Lucy on trips to the North Sea on vacation. She also recalled attending the Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936.
Mary met Gus Voetelink in Germany at her sister's 1939 wedding but married him in Amsterdam on March 30th, 1944. (An interesting note is that she did not know until she was in her 80's that her parents had arranged Gus and her to meet! The matchmaking was discussed in an old letter to their aunt and uncle that was on file with the State of Idaho's vital records division. Mary recounted watching a very tall man getting out of a small sports car; it was Gus.) After their marriage, they stayed in Amsterdam during World War 2. Her mother-in-law, Hermina Voetelink, had a very nice reception for them at her home. Gus was a member of the Dutch Underground and fought the Nazi occupation and Mary would help him. Mary said she could be and was very blunt and hostile with any German soldier trying to question her. Her father-in-law, the Dutch Ambassador to Portugal, would get her phony passes to go to Berlin. Mary would stop at her parents' estate in Dieckhorst, Germany. Being a Baroness was intimidating in those days and even some SS soldiers carried her bags for her not knowing that she had strategic information inside that was being supplied to the British via the Dutch underground.
The war atmosphere was different in occupied Amsterdam than at her parent's home. Food was scarce and the couple wrote of being hungry in their last communication to her parents before War's end. Mary's sister, Lucy, recalled that Gus's father helped Mary get a pass to come home to Dieckhorst during the war and she returned with three suitcases of food. Mary and Gus had even resorted to boiling tulip bulbs to eat. She recalled eating flowers, which were okay if fresh, otherwise they tasted bitter.
During one visit during war time, Mary innocently asked Mildred's mother-in-law, Lucie Bigadonsky Erdmann (who lived at Dieckhorst), where her son Siegfried was. Siegfried was a rocket scientist who worked with Werner von Braun. Lucie, who was elderly and known to be hard of hearing, told Mary he was at Peenemunde, information Mary passed on to Gus to pass on to the Allies. Peenemunde was later bombed by the Allies.
In 1946, right after the war, Mildred and her children came to Amsterdam on their way to returning to America. Mary remembered that when Mildred's baby son was born there in Amsterdam, she and Gus decided to entertain Mildred's older children by taking them to see fireworks. Instead of having a good time, their nephews were terrified thinking bombs were being dropped.
A year after her sister returned to America, Mary and Gus left Amsterdam with her parents, sister Lucy and brother Bob on a ship headed for Canada. She and Bob recalled that while they were in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, a terrible storm arose. The ship was not ballasted correctly, if at all, and was practically rolling over, swaying back and forth. They watched their father "Pop" holding onto their baggage with both hands, scooting across the floor of their cabin. A man across the hall on a chair was sliding out into the hallway and back again. The captain announced that there was nothing he could do and that the passengers should tie themselves in! The storm blew them off course, lengthening the already long trip. Finally they arrived in Toronto.
She and Gus went with Pop and family to Missouri first, to visit family. Then they left her parents and went by bus to go job hunting with Gus. He accepted a position in Oklahoma with Phillips Petroleum. Mary was with Gus in Switzerland; Tehran, Iran; and Saudi Arabia and knows how to converse in five languages. She and Gus lived in Iran for about five years and had many stories of the austere conditions in that country. Mary hired a woman named Hadji to help at the house. All food had to be soaked for a half hour in order to be safe to eat. She remembers that after a half-hour soaking, strawberries were pretty mushy. In Iran they had a houseboy who took the keys to their car and crashed it. He figured since he could drive an ass, he could drive a car!
Mary said she was always a shy child who liked to hide when there were parties when she was young. She was also a good mimic and was able to pick up languages. Mary was in Seattle visiting and recalled showing her four year-old great niece an atlas of the world. She showed her where she used to live. First, Holland; with Mary speaking a phrase in Dutch. On to Switzerland, with Mary speaking French. Then Tehran, where Mary spoke a phrase in Parsi. Mary laughed as she recounted how her little niece retorted, "Well, I speak Seattle!"
Mary and Gus both retired and lived in their two bedroom home in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. They kept their unique home even when working overseas. The home was designed for privacy and has a wooded territorial view of trees and visiting birds and squirrels. The home had been featured in Sunset Magazine when it was built. Mary entertained many of Gus's business contacts here. Some of these business associates turned into life-long friends.
Her brother recalls that her Airedale, Benny, only understood Dutch. However, he knew cookie in any language!
In 1997, at the age of 75, Mary drove from Oklahoma to Washington State to visit family and attend a niece's graduation. In 2000, she again drove cross country and drove north into Canada, driving their highway west above Washington state. From there she and Gus drove down to visit sisters Lucy in Washington and Mildred in Oregon, before returning home.
She lost her husband of 59 years in 2003. Mary recalled again when she met Gus, "There was Christmas snow still on the ground and Gus arrived with the top down on his car. He was wearing evening clothes for Millie's wedding. Gus was 6 feet, 2 inches tall."
Mary moved into an assisted living facility in 2005. She was 84 years old when she passed away on August 7th, 2006. Mary's last wishes included the scattering of her and Gus's ashes in the mountains. The ashes were disbursed atop Mount Walker in the Cascades in Washington state - the north side has a view of Victoria, Canada. It is a beautiful area.
A wake was held for Mary on August 12th at the family reunion at River Run Farm in Clatskanie, Oregon. Trees for both Mary and Gus were planted in their honor. A memorial service in Bartlesville was held August 25th.โผ(Oklahoma Statewide Deaths Published Thursday, August 24, 2006 in The Oklahoman) * VOETELINK, Mary Louise, 84, homemaker, died Aug. 7. Services 10:30 a.m. Friday (Neekamp-Luginbuel, Bartlesville).
In 1931, Mary and her family (then consisting of her parents, older sister Mildred and younger brother Walter Melton) headed for Germany. They first stopped in Missouri to say good bye to both sets of her grandparents, Carl and Lena von Marenholtz and Dr. Steven Melton and his second wife, Minnie. On to New York, they rode an ocean liner on the Hamburg line and ended up in Dieckhorst-Mueden.
She learned German from a tutor with the rest of her family and went to school in the nearby town of Celle, taking the local train with her older sister, Mildred.
Her family settled into their new life in Dieckhorst, exploring the town and estate with her younger brother and sisters. Her parents, Muttie and Pop, took she, Mildred, Walter and little Lucy on trips to the North Sea on vacation. She also recalled attending the Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936.
Mary met Gus Voetelink in Germany at her sister's 1939 wedding but married him in Amsterdam on March 30th, 1944. (An interesting note is that she did not know until she was in her 80's that her parents had arranged Gus and her to meet! The matchmaking was discussed in an old letter to their aunt and uncle that was on file with the State of Idaho's vital records division. Mary recounted watching a very tall man getting out of a small sports car; it was Gus.) After their marriage, they stayed in Amsterdam during World War 2. Her mother-in-law, Hermina Voetelink, had a very nice reception for them at her home. Gus was a member of the Dutch Underground and fought the Nazi occupation and Mary would help him. Mary said she could be and was very blunt and hostile with any German soldier trying to question her. Her father-in-law, the Dutch Ambassador to Portugal, would get her phony passes to go to Berlin. Mary would stop at her parents' estate in Dieckhorst, Germany. Being a Baroness was intimidating in those days and even some SS soldiers carried her bags for her not knowing that she had strategic information inside that was being supplied to the British via the Dutch underground.
The war atmosphere was different in occupied Amsterdam than at her parent's home. Food was scarce and the couple wrote of being hungry in their last communication to her parents before War's end. Mary's sister, Lucy, recalled that Gus's father helped Mary get a pass to come home to Dieckhorst during the war and she returned with three suitcases of food. Mary and Gus had even resorted to boiling tulip bulbs to eat. She recalled eating flowers, which were okay if fresh, otherwise they tasted bitter.
During one visit during war time, Mary innocently asked Mildred's mother-in-law, Lucie Bigadonsky Erdmann (who lived at Dieckhorst), where her son Siegfried was. Siegfried was a rocket scientist who worked with Werner von Braun. Lucie, who was elderly and known to be hard of hearing, told Mary he was at Peenemunde, information Mary passed on to Gus to pass on to the Allies. Peenemunde was later bombed by the Allies.
In 1946, right after the war, Mildred and her children came to Amsterdam on their way to returning to America. Mary remembered that when Mildred's baby son was born there in Amsterdam, she and Gus decided to entertain Mildred's older children by taking them to see fireworks. Instead of having a good time, their nephews were terrified thinking bombs were being dropped.
A year after her sister returned to America, Mary and Gus left Amsterdam with her parents, sister Lucy and brother Bob on a ship headed for Canada. She and Bob recalled that while they were in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, a terrible storm arose. The ship was not ballasted correctly, if at all, and was practically rolling over, swaying back and forth. They watched their father "Pop" holding onto their baggage with both hands, scooting across the floor of their cabin. A man across the hall on a chair was sliding out into the hallway and back again. The captain announced that there was nothing he could do and that the passengers should tie themselves in! The storm blew them off course, lengthening the already long trip. Finally they arrived in Toronto.
She and Gus went with Pop and family to Missouri first, to visit family. Then they left her parents and went by bus to go job hunting with Gus. He accepted a position in Oklahoma with Phillips Petroleum. Mary was with Gus in Switzerland; Tehran, Iran; and Saudi Arabia and knows how to converse in five languages. She and Gus lived in Iran for about five years and had many stories of the austere conditions in that country. Mary hired a woman named Hadji to help at the house. All food had to be soaked for a half hour in order to be safe to eat. She remembers that after a half-hour soaking, strawberries were pretty mushy. In Iran they had a houseboy who took the keys to their car and crashed it. He figured since he could drive an ass, he could drive a car!
Mary said she was always a shy child who liked to hide when there were parties when she was young. She was also a good mimic and was able to pick up languages. Mary was in Seattle visiting and recalled showing her four year-old great niece an atlas of the world. She showed her where she used to live. First, Holland; with Mary speaking a phrase in Dutch. On to Switzerland, with Mary speaking French. Then Tehran, where Mary spoke a phrase in Parsi. Mary laughed as she recounted how her little niece retorted, "Well, I speak Seattle!"
Mary and Gus both retired and lived in their two bedroom home in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. They kept their unique home even when working overseas. The home was designed for privacy and has a wooded territorial view of trees and visiting birds and squirrels. The home had been featured in Sunset Magazine when it was built. Mary entertained many of Gus's business contacts here. Some of these business associates turned into life-long friends.
Her brother recalls that her Airedale, Benny, only understood Dutch. However, he knew cookie in any language!
In 1997, at the age of 75, Mary drove from Oklahoma to Washington State to visit family and attend a niece's graduation. In 2000, she again drove cross country and drove north into Canada, driving their highway west above Washington state. From there she and Gus drove down to visit sisters Lucy in Washington and Mildred in Oregon, before returning home.
She lost her husband of 59 years in 2003. Mary recalled again when she met Gus, "There was Christmas snow still on the ground and Gus arrived with the top down on his car. He was wearing evening clothes for Millie's wedding. Gus was 6 feet, 2 inches tall."
Mary moved into an assisted living facility in 2005. She was 84 years old when she passed away on August 7th, 2006. Mary's last wishes included the scattering of her and Gus's ashes in the mountains. The ashes were disbursed atop Mount Walker in the Cascades in Washington state - the north side has a view of Victoria, Canada. It is a beautiful area.
A wake was held for Mary on August 12th at the family reunion at River Run Farm in Clatskanie, Oregon. Trees for both Mary and Gus were planted in their honor. A memorial service in Bartlesville was held August 25th.โผ(Oklahoma Statewide Deaths Published Thursday, August 24, 2006 in The Oklahoman) * VOETELINK, Mary Louise, 84, homemaker, died Aug. 7. Services 10:30 a.m. Friday (Neekamp-Luginbuel, Bartlesville).
Family Members
Parents
See more Voetelink or von Marenholtz memorials in:
- Find a Grave Voetelink or von Marenholtz
