Mary Violet Neils

Mary Violet Neils (nee Koehn) March 28, 1925 – April 25, 2021 Our beloved Mom, Grandma, Great Grandma passed away peacefully, in her home, on April 25th. This past month, on March 28, 2021 she turned ninety- six years young. Mary was born in a small town, in Hamilton, Wisconsin. Her family moved to Milwaukee and eventually, would raise her own family there too. In her later years, she was well cared for and loved by her daughter Dawn. Mary was a dedicated and hard worker, putting in almost 30 years at one employer in the Milwaukee area. Her hard work didn’t stop when she punched out either, she raised five children and enjoyed planting flowers and growing a large vegetable garden. Mary made the best zucchini cake, quite possibly because the main ingredient came from her own backyard garden. In her younger years, she liked to go out dancing, catch a movie at the Rivoli theater in Cedarburg or go roller-skating at the Artistic Roller Rink, also located in Cedarburg. Mary truly lived life to the fullest through simple pleasures, traveling, reading, writing to friends and family, hosting Friday fish-fry’s, having family over for stuffed peppers or cabbage and noodles. This won’t be surprising if you knew Mary, but one of her true passions was taking pictures, capturing memories and creating photo albums. She was honestly a pioneer in the sense of scrapbooking because she took the time to chronologically order and capture years of unforgettable people and memories. If you were lucky enough to receive an afghan, you would know what her other passion was- crocheting blankets. God only knows how many afghans she knit, over the years. She might not have had much to financially give, but she loved to share her blankets to brighten other people’s lives just like it did for her, in making them. Her passions were to bring joy into other people’s lives, and she did this in so many ways, like storytelling, making the best penny-birthday cards and simply just being the wonderful, caring woman she was. In her last years, she was the one filled with joy when her grand-kids and great-grandkids would visit her. She will forever be cherished and remembered by her children Gail (Fred), Dawn, Linda (Jim), Jill; ten grandchildren and twenty-two great grandchildren. Predeceased by her husband Edward; Eddie; her son Brian, her parents Pearl and Walter and sister Janet and brothers Wayne and Sonny.