Mary E. Egging

Mary E. (Frederick) Egging, 93 of Sidney, passed away peacefully on April 1, 2015 in Sidney, with her children at her side. Funeral services will be on April 9 at 10:30 a.m. at St. Patrick's Church, Sidney. Burial will follow at Greenwood Cemetery. A wake service will be held at St. Patrick's the previous evening, April 8 at 6 p.m. Visitation will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. that day (April 8) at the Gehrig-Stitt Funeral Home, 1140 10th Ave., Sidney. The family asks that memorials be directed to St. Patrick's Church.

Mary was born in Kearney on June 15, 1921. At the age of 7, she and her family moved to Kimball, where she graduated from Kimball County High School as class Valedictorian in 1939. On June 15, 1943 she married Theodore Egging and moved to a farm outside of Gurley. She lived there most of her adult life and raised a remarkable family of 16 children. For 20 years, she served as treasurer and accountant for the Egging Company, the manufacturing company she and Ted founded. She was a life-long member of St. Patrick's Parish, Sidney. Volunteer work for the parish was especially important to her after she and Ted retired to Sidney. Her regular presence at the St. Patrick's Rummage House is but one example.

In 1986, by resolution of the Nebraska State Legislature, Mary was honored as the Nebraska Mother of the Year. She and Ted received the 1993 Borromeo Award from Carroll College in Helena, Mont., for their outstanding devotion to the college and its Catholic mission.

Mary was an accomplished seamstress and had an interest in many handcrafts. She was a hardworking and dedicated mother who did not fail to appreciate how fortunate her life had been and who taught this to her children. She also taught the importance of lending a helping hand. No matter what, she would carry on with few or no complaints. Her children and others appreciated her dry, witty sense of humor. Mary was a woman of sound, abiding Christian faith rooted in prayer.

Survivors include her sister, Lorraine Frederick Volkmer of Sidney; her children: Mary Ann (Ivan) Wemhoff of Humphrey, Neb.; Walter Egging of Gurley; Louis (Gabriela) Egging of Clinton, Iowa; Theodore (Cindi) Egging of Gurley; Donald (Betty) Egging of Sidney; Robert (Darcy) Egging of Oswego, Ill.; Sharon (Ambrey) Gartner of Hastings, Minn.; Alan (Mary) Egging of Inver Grove Heights, Minn.; Christina (Michael) Brown of Omaha, Neb.; Linda (Pete) Glueckert of Minot, N.D.; Angela (John) Florin of Oakdale, Minn.; Vincent (Elaine) Egging of Woodbury, Minn.; Duane (Shelly) Egging of Everett, Wash.; Rita (Dave) Bruechert of Lakeland, Minn.; Philip (Rachael) Egging of Reasnor, IA; 46 grandchildren, 28 great-grandchildren, numerous nieces and nephews and other extended family members.

Preceded in death by her parents, Louis and Anna Josephine Frederick; husband, Theodore; infant sons, Joseph and Richard; daughter, Patricia (Kaplan); brother, LaVern Frederick; daughter-in-law, Donna Egging (Walter); grandson, Greg Egging; and great-granddaughter, Alexis Wheeler.