Mary Spangler:  

Hello, Everyone from the class of '63! I am now retired and have no home in the vicinity...except for Maternity. My Father, Peter, died in Aug., '06, my brother Peter, (class of '62) died in Dec., of '10 and my Mother, Helen, died last Nov., '12. All of their funerals took place at Maternity of Mary! They were all very lovely and I felt such pride in our home parish! Each one of them were planned with such care and empathy of the parish staff. We are now members of Mary, Mother of the Church in Burnsville. As I get older I realize what a gift we had in receiving a great education at M of M. We were like our own little family. It's so nice to hear that we are getting together to celebrate 50 years!!! I remember Father O'Donnell handing out report cards. Unfortunately, I had an older brother (Peter) and a younger brother (Steve) who were both smarter than I. He would make comments about it, but was always very kind. I remember having to stand up to say, "Good Morning Fr. O'Donnell". We said the pledge of Allegiance every morning also. Fr. O'Donnell married my husband and I on April 17, 1971. I was quite nervous and was visibly shaking and he set his hand on mine and comforted me to relax. Always a warm and tender person. God rest his soul. We were part of a community by singing at funeral Masses and attending daily Mass. I also remember saying an Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be after each Mass in honor of the next person in our parish to die. I also remember that we had to bow our head every time we heard the name "Jesus" spoken. I still do it! It all taught us discipline and respect...for not only the elderly, but also for each other. My life has included raising three children. John is a second grade teacher, Anna is in Human Services and Kent is in sales. Our grandchild, Vince is almost 10 and is the light of my life. He is in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) program in the district. My daughter has been the best mother to him. I'm very proud of both of them. My husband and I met in Brainerd where I had moved after graduating from St. Kates Occupational Therapy program. We lived there until 1981 when my husband accepted an administrative position at Abbott-Northwestern Hospital. We were glad to have our family closer to the grandparents before they p...Expand for more