Mary Louise Deters, 95, the heart and soul of our family, peacefully passed on to her eternal reward at her home on April 25, 2013, surrounded by members of her loving family. She had been in failing health the past several years.
Mary Louise was born in Glandorf, July 4, 1917 to the late Urban and Mary Giesken Quinn, the third of fourteen children. With her brothers and sisters, she was included in the Guinness Book of Records several years ago. At the time, the surviving members of the Quinn Family had the highest number of siblings beyond the age of 70 on record.
She married Paul Charles Deters on Aug 13, 1938, who preceded her in death in September, 1992, after 54 years of marriage. Mary Louise was a homemaker, a member of St. John The Baptist Catholic Church, Glandorf, its Rosary and Altar and Catholic Ladies of Columbia Societies. After raising her family, she joined her husband at The Glandorf Tile Co, performing administrative office duties until it was sold in 1986.
Both Mom and Dad were civic minded and charitable, involved in the church and community, while maintaining their primary focus on their family. They made it a priority, no matter the miles, to attend every Baptism, First Communion, Confirmation, Birthday Party, Recital, Wedding, and Reunion possible, not only for their own grandchildren and great-grandchildren, but also for the extended Quinn and Deters families.
Mom's strong gift of faith was evident in her regular examples of what it means to be a true Christian. Weekly Masses and daily rosaries with a special devotion to the Blessed Mother, as well as an abundance of care and concern for others were the norm throughout her life until recent failing health made it too difficult to continue.
Mom had excellent organizational skills, running an efficient, very busy household, while at the same time creating an atmosphere of "home," where you knew you were very special and always welcome. Her culinary skills were perhaps surpassed only by her own mother's legendary talent for feeding a crowd. Her meals were a veritable delight in this world of fast food and TV dinners. Holiday dinners were the "stuff of legend" and always a major family event.
She is survived by five daughters and three sons – Marjorie (James) O'Donnell of Glenview, IL; Martha (James) Donoghue of Grantham, NH; Paulette (Bob) Welsch of Aiken, SC; Pamela LaCorte of Elizabeth, NJ; Deanna (John) Evans of Wauwatosa, WI; John (Pat) Deters of Bloomfield Hills, MI; James (Sue) Deters of Ft. Myers, FL; and Steve (Jan) Deters of Grosse Pointe Farms, MI. Mom cherished her twenty-seven grandchildren and fifty great-grandchildren. One daughter, Mary Ann Donnelly, and her husband, Thomas Donnelly, pre-deceased her.
She is survived by three sisters – Dorothy Schmenk of New Cleveland; Mary Jane (Gene) Stechschulte of Kalida; and Betty (Paul) Stechschulte of Columbus Grove; and sisters in law, Ruthie Quinn of Glandorf and Erma Deters of Ottawa; by three brothers – Carl (Ruth) Quinn of Cincinnati; Robert Quinn of Glandorf; and Jack (Jeannie) Quinn of Millbury, OH. She was pre-deceased by four sisters – Margaret Stechschulte, Jeannette Bowers, Clarine Wilhelm, and Emma Quinn, three brothers – Cletus (Jake), Louis, and Richard Quinn, three sisters in law-Dorothy Quinn, Ruth Quinn, and Marty Quinn, and four brothers in law – Ray Stechschulte, John Bowers, Norman Schmenk, and Carl Wilhelm.
Mom was a woman of grace and dignity and leaves a legacy of love, kindness and respect-for-others to everyone with whom she came in contact. She and Dad made it their mission to instill in each of us a love of God, Family, and Community along with a Catholic education and a strong foundation for following the Golden Rule.
We would like to offer a special thanks to Fr. Tony Fortman for his friendly and inspirational visits and to Dr. Anna Horstman for her professional care, kindness, direction and support, as well as the dedication of the nurses and staff of Putnam County Home Health and Hospice.
Mass of Christian burial will begin at 10:30 AM, Tuesday, April 30th at St. John The Baptist Church, Glandorf. Father Kenneth Schroeder, CPPS, will celebrate. Burial will be in the Church Cemetery.