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Funeral Services for Mary Lou Marty, age 73, of Spearfish, SD, will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, October 18, 2022 at Grace Lutheran Church in Sturgis, SD.   Visitation will be one hour prior to services at the church on Tuesday.  Burial will be at a later date at the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in Zeona, SD.

Mary Lou Marty was born September 22, 1949, to John and Helen (Wells) Marty. Mary Lou passed away October 8, 2022, after an 18-month battle with Bulbar ALS.

Mary Lou grew up south of the Slim Buttes in Harding County on the Marty Ranch. Mary Lou was the middle child between John "Sam" and Elizabeth. In addition to her siblings, Mary Lou grew up with her cousins, Jesse, and Ruth Ann, on the ranch. Mary Lou welcomed her baby sister, Elizabeth, who throughout her life, took care of her from changing diapers to interfering on dates in high school! They all enjoyed growing up together on the ranch. While Mary Lou was still the youngest in the bunch, she proved she was fearless by jumping off the big sheds into the snowbank first. After proving she could and did not get hurt, the others quickly followed behind. Mary Lou was fearless throughout her life and while battling ALS.

Mary Lou was baptized and confirmed at the Immanuel Lutheran Church in Zeona, SD. She attended the Marty School kindergarten through 6 ^th grade and completed 7 ^th – 12 ^th grade in Newell. She graduated from Newell High School in 1968. Following high school, she attended National College of Business in Rapid City.

Mary Lou married John H. Lee June 28, 1969, and they lived in Bath, ME until returning to Spearfish, SD. They were blessed with two children, John E., and Stephen.

Mary Lou lived in Spearfish and worked in the OR at the Spearfish Hospital for 30 years. She spent the next 20 years working across the United States as a traveling OR surgical technician. One friend, Peggy, reminisced saying doctors are looking for the best tech to assist and Mary Lou could assist in any case. One doctor shared, "if Mary Lou passed an instrument to him, he better find a way to use it!" Mary Lou loved her job and meeting great people everywhere she went. In 2011 she found herself on a temporary assignment in Mesa, AZ and fell in love with the desert. She made her home in Mesa with her two dogs, Charlie, and Bitsy. In 2018 she hung up her OR scrubs and retired after working 50 years as a surgical technician.

Mary Lou enjoyed having family and friends visit and made numerous trips back to SD for the Newell High School reunions, family reunions, holidays, and birthday celebrations. She checked off a few items on her "bucket list," including a mother-daughter trip to Hawaii with Helen Marty and Israel with her lifelong friend, Linda Hathaway.

Mary Lou is survived by her sons, John E. (Amy) Lee, Tahlequah, OK and Stephen (Tacia) Lee, Belgrade, MT; granddaughter Naomi Lee, grandson Graycen Lee, great-granddaughter Amara Lee; brother John "Sam" (Leah) Marty, sister Elizabeth (Avery) May; nieces Nicole Kolander, Samantha (Darin) Sandberg, Lindsey Marty, Mary Jo (Jason) Fairhead, and nephew Bud May; great-nieces and nephews Connor Kolander, Emmett, Ellie, and Olivia Sandberg, Josephine, Madelyn, and Oliver Fairhead, and Tayden May; cousins, Jesse Marty, Ruth Ann Sprague, Grace Blair, Tom Blair, Doris Matz, Melissa Marty, Ella Mia Marty, Nancy Phipps, Judy (Charles) Keenan, Loretta Marty Cline, Dean Good, and Mike Wells.

Mary Lou is preceded in death by her parents John and Helen (Wells) Marty; grandparents Wm. "Billy" and Ruth (Phipps) Marty, Jesse, and Anna (Hoveland) Wells; uncles and aunts Doris Marty, Bill and Maxine Marty, George and Ruth Marie Blair, Errol and Rose Wells, sister-in-law Cheryll Marty; and her cousin Jerry Wells.