Mary Louise Mooney

She was born May 14, 1937, in Los Angeles, California, to John and Louise Maynard.

After 10 years in California, she moved with her family to Park Ridge, Illinois, where she graduated from Maine Township High School in 1955.

She married The Rev. Harris C. Mooney on June 16, 1956. They had five children together.

Mary Lou lived in Bessemer City, North Carolina; Kewanee, Illinois; Sussex, Wisconsin; La Crosse, Wisconsin; Indianapolis, Indiana; Lebanon, Indiana; Eugene, Oregon; Green Valley, Arizona; Hancock; and West Allis.

She was a woman of strong faith and was a life-long member of the Episcopal Church.

In the early years, she was actively involved in supporting her husband’s parish work. She later became an Oblate of the Order of Julian of Norwich. Her beautiful voice could always be heard singing in church on Sunday mornings.

Mary Lou received her Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts from Indiana University at Indianapolis in 1988.

She was an accomplished artist who especially loved making hand made paper and creating mixed media wall hangings and cards using her paper, found objects and the Singer sewing machine she had owned for 70 years.

She was a lifelong volunteer, giving her time to many worthwhile causes such as preparing sandwiches for those placing sandbags along the rising Mississippi River in La Crosse, serving as Cub Scout Den Mother, assisting refugee families with English as a Second Language, and creating lap blankets for babies and the elderly. Most recently, she volunteered at the Canterbury House in Houghton, helping international students hone life skills necessary to their success.

She was predeceased by her husband The Rev. Harris C. Mooney and by her long-time companion, The Rev. Mary Campbell.

Mary Lou is survived by her five children , James K. Mooney, III, and Carol Lee Hopkins, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Christopher Z. Mooney and Laura, of Chicago, Illinois, Mary P. Gardner and Robert C. Jr., of Pelkie, Josephine H. Mooney and Lynn Pinckney, of Eugene, Oregon, and Sarah M. Westbrook and Cary, of Charlotte, North Carolina; nine grandchildren and six great grandchildren; brothers, George S. Maynard and Julia, of Port Townsend, WA and John C. Maynard and Martha Gifford, of Brookfield, Wisconsin.

Funeral services were held for Mary Lou at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Sussex, Wisconsin. Her remains were interred in the cemetery at Nashotah House Theological Seminary in Nashotah, Wisconsin.

In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be sent to your local hospice or The Canterbury House in Houghton.