Obituary of Mary Ann Wohlford

DYERSVILLE, IOWA

Mary A. Wohlford, 98, of Dyersville, Iowa, passed away on July 15, 2024, after a very short illness. She was surrounded by several of her daughters when she was called home.

Visitation will be held from 2 - 6 p.m. on Sunday, July 21, 2024, at Kramer Funeral Home in Dyersville. Visitation will continue from 9 – 10 prior to funeral mass at the funeral home.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, July 22, 2024, at St. Francis Xavier Basilica in Dyersville with burial in the church cemetery. Rev. Gabriel Mensah will officiate.

Mary was born on March 29, 1926, to George and Anna Beckmann of Dyersville, Iowa. She attended Xavier grade school and Xavier high school. After graduating from high school, Mary went on to study nursing at the St. Francis School of Nursing in Freeport, Illinois. After graduating from nurses training, she was inducted into the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corp and worked as a Cadet Nurse from 1944 until 1947. She met Walter C. Wohlford while attending nurses’ training and he quickly became the love of her life. Mary and Walter married on March 29, 1948, in the St. Francis Xavier Basilica in Dyersville. After 39 years of marriage, Mary lost her beloved husband Walter when he passed away on November 23, 1987.

Walt and Mary were the parents to eight beautiful daughters, Connie, Sandy, Ann, Susan, Mary Pat, Jenny, Elizabeth and Christine. Their four older daughters were famously known for each being born on August 3^rd, a world record that was codified by Ripley’s Believe It or Not. Though Mary and Walt had a very busy home life, there was always room for others. Walt and Mary were active as Catholic Charities foster parents to Tim and Jim Weiss and Roberto and Louis Del Riego. They hosted a foreign exchange student as well, that foreign exchange student, Monica Westhoff, soon became a member of the Dyersville community. In the Wohlford home there was always room for others at the table.

Together, Walt and Mary owned Wohlford’s Water Treatment and Quality Pools, businesses they managed together for decades. When Walt wanted to go into the pool business, he felt he should have a pool in his back yard in part for marketing purposes.  Mary originally was not interested in having a pool, but she very quickly warmed up to the idea.  The pool served as a gathering place for the family, neighbors, and many of the Wohlford children’s friends. Mary spent every summer sunning by the pool while watching her grandchildren and great grandchildren swim.

Besides raising eight daughters and managing their businesses, Mary worked as a Registered Nurse at Mercy Hospital in Dubuque for 24 years, from 1971-1995. As a nurse, she helped babies enter the world and she held her patients’ hands as they were being called home. After Mary’s retirement she organized the Parish Health Ministry in Dyersville in 1996.  Mary was active in the Catholic Daughters of America and was a hospice volunteer. From1997 until late in life Mary Wohlford traveled with Medical Ministry International (MMI). While traveling with MMI, she provided medical and surgical care in clinics in Jamaica, Ecuador, Thailand, Haiti, Armenia, Fiji, and various locations in Africa. Mary also worked with the American Red Cross and served to help those devastated by Hurricane Katrina, later, she worked with the Red Cross in Rochester Minnesota after the city was ravaged by flooding. Mary’s passports tell the story of a fearless woman who traveled the world and lived in service to others.

Mary loved a good cup of coffee, exploring nature, exercising and swimming. She loved to debate issues related to religion, science, politics, health care and current events, she also loved to travel.  She was a loving mother, grandmother, great grandmother and friend. She was a devout Catholic who prayed the rosary many times a day, and to ensure she always had a rosary at hand, she wore her rosary around her neck as a necklace.

She loved and was so proud of her daughters, her grandchildren (Emily, Justin, Zack, Sonny, Tyler, Clayton, Austen, Christopher, Abbey, Shelly, Stuart, Walter, Jessica, Tony, Eli, Alex, Ivy, and Max), and her great-grandchildren (Ella, Cooper, Jase, Mollie, Ruby, Margot, Luella, Rayne, Willow, Wilder, Avery, Nolan, Adhelle, Shayla, Antwan Jr., Jezel, Zion, Lyle, Rory, Letti, Louise, Waylon and Shawn.

Mary was predeceased in death by her loving husband Walter C. Wohlford, her daughter Ann George, granddaughter Shelly Lucas, her brothers Luke (John), Paul, Tom Beckmann and Sisters Ester Sears and Vivian Glab. She is predeceased in death by her son in laws Bob Jacobson, Dennis Rausch, and nephew David Beckmann.  

She is survived by her sister-in-law Mary Kay Beckmann, daughters Connie Holmes, Sandy Rausch (Larry Bouvier), Susan Jacobson, Dr. Mary Pat Wohlford (Dr. Joe D. Goldstrich), Jennifer Kulper (Roger), Elizabeth Wohlford (Allan Paul), and Christine Wohlford. She is survived by 17 grandchildren, 23 great grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.

The world was a better place because of the life of Mary Ann Beckmann Wohlford. Hers was a life well lived and she will be sorely missed.

Kramer Funeral Home in Dyersville is assisting the family and information is available at www.kramerfuneral.com.  Memorials may be sent to the family, (in care of Kramer Funeral Home) 750 12^th Ave SW, Dyersville, IA  52040.