Marie Mayer, age 95 of Mott, passed away on Tuesday, December 11, 2012, at the Good Samaritan Society in Mott, ND.

The Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:30 am MT Saturday, December 15, at St. Stephen's Catholic Church, south of Richardton. Fr. Charles Zins will officiate with burial in St. Stephen's Catholic Cemetery.


Visitation will be Friday, December 14, from 1:00 to 7:00 pm MT at Evanson-Jenson Funeral Home in Mott with a Rosary Service at 7:00 pm MT at the funeral home.


Serving as Active Casketbearers are Darren and Kelly Granaas, Mark and Derek Mayer, Christopher and Nicholas Herner, Brock, Cody, and Dustin Schulz. Serving as Honorary Bearers are Jamie Hilt, Bret and Whitney Mayer, Makalla Goode, and Samantha Schulz.


A memorial has been established to St. Stephen's Catholic Church.


Marie Elisabeth Kelsch was born March 3, 1917 on the Kelsch Family homestead in rural Stark County south of Richardton, ND to Peter and Margaret (Kilzer) Kelsch. She was raised on the family homestead and educated in country schools south of Richardton, receiving a high school diploma through correspondence school.


During World War II, she moved to Seattle WA to work for Boeing as a "Rosie the Riveter." Returning home in 1945, she worked various jobs until she married Joseph P. Mayer on September 23, 1947. Together on their family farm, the couple raised their nine children – their "crown jewels." The strength of this family was celebrated each summer with their reunion at the Farm.


Marie was active in St. Stephen's Church. She was an expert hand quilter and seamstress, a great Hungarian cook and an avid gardener. Marie had a lifelong appreciation of the arts, enjoying painting, music and concerts, plays and festivals, especially Hoste Fest. She was a voracious reader, loved crossword puzzles and playing cards. She loved genealogy and spent countless hours researching at local churches, archiving at the ND Heritage Center, and corresponding with relatives in Europe. Marie enjoyed traveling, highlighted by a trip through several countries in Europe in 2003 and especially enjoyed the country road trips with her "girls" in the summertime, always saying "you can't get lost in ND."


Marie will be dearly missed by her nine children and their spouses including Dan and Donna Mayer, Sturgis, SD; Rosalee and Pete Granaas, Tucson, AZ; Joe and Glee Mayer, Minot, ND; Marie and Bill Sampson, S. Weymouth, MA; Rebecca and Lester Herner, Fargo, ND; Pat Mayer and Larry Schmidt, Mandan, ND; Jolene and Marv Schulz, Edgeley, ND; and Roger, Fargo, ND; 14 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren. She is also survived by one sister, Eleanor Summers, Dickinson, ND and two sisters-in-law, Mary Frank, Mott, ND and Lena Kelsch, Lefor, ND.


She was preceded in death by her husband, Joseph P. Mayer, on September 27, 2001, her son Paul Mayer on December 9, 2010; 7 sisters, Bertha Portscheller, Anna Mayer, Katherine Harle, Carolyn Schuld, Emma Schiff, Agnes Seiler, and Evelyn Riesinger, and 2 brothers, Peter Kelsch and Joseph Kelsch.