Mary Therese May

Mary Therese May

Cedar Rapids

Mary Therese May, our beloved mom, mother-in-law, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister-in-law & aunt, passed away at Cottage Grove Place on Dec. 21, 2023, at the age of 95. Memorial Mass will be held at 2 p.m. on Thursday, January 11, 2024, at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Cedar Rapids. The family will greet friends one hour prior to Mass. Inurnment: Linwood Cemetery Mausoleum, Cedar Rapids. Murdoch-Linwood Funeral Home & Cremation Service in Cedar Rapids is assisting the family.

The 6th of 10 children, Mom was born Dec. 6, 1928, in Clarion, Iowa, to William & Margerete (La Tronch) Moore. Her family moved to Cedar Rapids where Mom attended and graduated from Immaculate Conception High School. She continued her education at the University of Iowa, earning a degree in nursing. She met Dad while they both attended the University of Iowa. He was very persistent. They were married Sept. 29, 1951, at Immaculate Conception Church in Cedar Rapids.

Mom was baptized, educated, confirmed, and married at Immaculate Conception Church in Cedar Rapids. She and Dad transferred from Immaculate Conception to St. Pius X in 1964 after moving from the SE side to NE side of Cedar Rapids. She was active in the St. Pius women’s groups as well as teaching CCD for over 40 years. She was a woman of great faith and rarely missed an opportunity to remind us to go to church & say our prayers.

Mom worked as a nurse at St. Luke’s and Mercy Hospital for many years, volunteered as the school nurse at Regis High School and Mt. Mercy Sisters of Mercy. Mom loved to travel and she and Dad were able to visit several countries together, once us kids were out of the house. She also loved the arts, especially attending the CR Symphony and Orchestra Iowa concerts (with Dad sleeping quietly in the seat beside her.)

She is survived by her children, Edward (Gloria) May, Guttenberg, Colette (Mark) Jorgenson, Hampton, Il, Celeste (Brian) Williams, Marion, & Christopher (Terri) May, Robins; 11 grandchildren, Mark May, Valerie May, Kevin May (Whitney Larson), Laura (Nate) Heater, Alisha (Christopher) Dunn, Charles (Alie) Williams, Jessica (Burke) Ruder, Amanda Vincent, Andrew (Chelsea) May, Samuel (Taylor) Williams, Elizabeth (Aaron) Brandt; 4 step grandsons, David & Douglas Rassmussen, Matt & Brian Jorgenson; 6 great-grandchildren, Declan & Parker Dunn, Everett & Jack Ruder, Amelia May, and Oliver Brandt; sister-in-law, Margie Ann Moore; and numerous nieces & nephews.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Kenneth; her son, David; daughter-in-law, Jamie; siblings and their spouses, Bernard (Margaret) Moore, Gerald (Anita) Moore, Joseph (Dorothy) Moore, Terrance Moore, Al Moore, Marge (Jim) Byrne, and Kathleen Engle; and infant brothers, James and Wilbur.

Mercy Hospice has been a great comfort to us over the past 3 years as Mom’s health declined and rebounded multiple times. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Cedar Valley Humane Society, or Mercy Hospice for the compassionate care they provided not only to Mom, but all of their patients and families. We would also like to thank Mercy Hallmar and Cottage Grove Place for the excellent care they provided Mom.

Please share a memory of Mary at www.murdochfuneralhome.com under obituaries.