My MOTHER'S Birthday

This date 1913, Mary Coletta Thompson was born. She and her twin brother, Wheelar were quite a surprise to their parents. Winifred Quinn Thompson had not seen a doctor until he was called to come and assist with the home birth. Winnie always laughed and said "Your first child takes all your time, so two can't take anymore!" Raised on small farms in Washington County, IA, Mary eventually graduated from Riverside Public High School. She attended the summer program for teachers at Cedar Falls, IA. She often spoke of how terribly homesick she was on this first time away from her home. She taught in local area rural schools for several years. The Quinns were of the Catholic faith and Winnie was married in the church and the twins were baptised, but circumstances intervened and they were not active participants. After she was grown, Mary took instructions and became an active Catholic. On January 2, 1936 she married Bernard Joseph Deatsch at St. Mary's in Riverside. They went to live at the Vernon Burr farm near Lone Tree, Ia, where Bernard was employed. The winter of 1936 was one of the worse weather seasons in Iowa history, followed by one of the hottest summers! Mary was an excellent cook and seamstress. In the 1950s, Mary survived a serious heart attack. In the 1960s and 70s, she would be diagnosed with maturity onset diabetes. In the mid 1970s, she suffered a stroke, which left her incapacitated, and at the same time she was loosing her vision to complications of the diabetes. Bernard took early retirement from his job at AMANA to care for her in their home in Parnell, IA. She died in September 1977 and is buried at St. Vincent's Cemetery, just west of Riverside.