Mary Neary

Mary Constance Neary, age 97, a rural resident of the Wiota area for 69 years, passed away Monday, October 6, 2003 at the Heritage House in Atlantic.Con, as her many friends called her, was the daughter of Hugh and Lilian (Calkins) Septer of Cumberland and was born April 13, 1906 in Holt County, Nebraska. At the age of one, her parents bought a farm south of Cumberland, IA where she attended Woodside country school and Red Oak High School where she graduated in 1924. Con then attended college in Lincoln, NE and taught schools in Adams County for five years. On June 7, 1929, she married Kenneth M. Neary and joined him in farming in Adams and Cass County before purchasing a farm near Wiota in 1941. Con was active in many community activities including extension programs, 4-H projects, book clubs, DAR, the Mayflower Society, a nieghborhood club, Genealogy Club, Atlantic Hospital Auxiliary, Atlantic Does Society and SS Peter & Paul Catholic Church. She was an ardent gardener and took great pride in nurturing the Neary Oxford sheep flock.She is survived by one son Merrill Neary and wife Carole of Council Bluffs, IA; one daughter Rozanne Schwarz and husband Edward of Falls Church, VA; five grandchildren, Michael Neary and wife Dana of Brookston, IN, Martin Neary and wife Mary of Lincoln, NE, John Neary and wife Tuesday of Arlington, NE, Kathleen Hemmer and husband Robert of Lincoln, NE and Megan Malmberg and husband Christopher of Millard, NE; nine great grandchildren; one sister Dora Kreiss of Sooke, BC; one brother Hugh Septer of Ida Grove, IA and one brother-in-law Arthur Wallace of Bella Vista, AR.Con was preceeded in death by her parents; her husband and a sister Frances WallaceFuneral InformationServices for Con will be held Thursday, October 9, 2003, at the SS Peter & Paul Catholic Church in Atlantic at 10:00 AM with Father David Smith officiating. Interment will be in the Atlantic Catholic Cemetery.