Mary Ann Kunze

April 22, 1937 - October 13, 2018

Our beloved Wife, Mom, Grandma and Great Grandma, sister and Friend, Mary Ann Soderwall Kunze went to see Jesus on Saturday morning October 13 2018 at the age of 81. Mary passed away peacefully in her sleep at her home from emphysema. Her family gathered around her the night before to share their love. Mary is preceded in death by her sister Pat and her parents. Mary was born on April 22 1937 at Emmanuel Hospital in Portland Oregon to Harold and Edith Soderwall. She is the oldest of three girls with Karen (Sis) and Pat to follow. The family attended First Baptist Church of Portland that was downtown until Mary was 12. She was on the Cradle Role for the church and was baptized at age 10. They then attended a nearby Lutheran church where she was confirmed. The family lived on NE 61st in Portland. She attended Rose City Park grade school and graduated from Grant High school 1955. Many summers as a girl, Mary and her sisters rode the train to Astoria to stay with aunts and uncles and cousins. She watched Uncle Earl who ran the local radio shack and was a ham radio operator. Aunt Ethel and Aunt Alice were skilled in sewing, stitchery and needlepoint starting Mary on these hobbies. They also spent many hours at the beach. When she was 5, Mary was able to ride the train to Chicago with her dad for his dad’s funeral. In order to save a train fair her dad told her to say she was 4. Mary didn’t understand this much and did not like being 4 again, but did as she was told. While on the train when the conductor was passing Mary innocently asked, “When can I be 5 again?” The Junior Rose parade was something the kids of Portland like to participate in. Mary was no exception. When she was 10, she decked out her bike with red and white crepe paper, roses from the big rose parade and a sail, dawned her red swimsuit and rode in the parade. She didn’t win a blue ribbon but did receive a prize of crystal bookends in the shape of a dog. The summer of her 14th year, she traveled down to Los Angeles to visit Uncle Walt and Aunt Marge and their boys, where she experienced many exciting adventures. One funny thing she told was picking up her baby cousin while lying on the floor, holding him up over her body with her arms stretched out and he looking down at her after he had just ate. She got a mouth full. Her high school years saw her do the normal teenage activities and she joined a social-service club her senior year. After graduating she attended Multnomah Business College where she became more involved in the student life and activities, even becoming a May day Queen. In the fall of 1957, on a blind date, she met Willy Kunze. They began to date and 3 months later where married on February 12, 1958. They moved to California where Willy had a job with the telephone company. The stay in California was short because they were to start a family and wanted to come back home to Oregon. Their first child Lisa was born in 1959. They purchased a home in Oak Grove and lived here for 14 years. They had four other children David in 1960, Diane in 1961, Susie in 1964 and Jimmy in 1966. While in Oak Grove Willy learned the sheet metal and gutter business. With 5 children in 7 years Mary was a busy mom. She did volunteer at preschool. She said it was great, because then things didn’t seem so wild at home, after spending a morning with a whole group of wild little kids. Together Willy and Mary began Custom Gutters with Willy’s brother Ernie and his wife. Mary was the office manager and bookkeeper for the business until Willy retired and David took over. She also worked at the desk of Dammasch hospital in Wilsonville for 7 years and at Portland Community College part time. In 1973 they built their current home on a 40 acre farm in Carus where they raised some cows and then settled on hazelnut trees. They also raised a few chickens and other birds for fun along with dogs and cats. This was a dream farm for Willy and Mary although a city girl did her best to help him. In the 80’s they moved Custom Gutters out to the farm using the barn as the shop and turning the living room into an office for both of them. Mary has always kept busy in the community and her church. In 1968 while in Oak Grove she helped form a BUNCO group that still meets today at different members’ homes. She kept the stats on each player until recently. She has been a member of the Carus extension group FCE (Family, Community, Education) for a long time and the President for over 15 years. She is a member of American Needlework Guild of Portland and the Embroidery Guild of America. She would drive the carpool to all the meetings between Vancouver, WA, Portland and Salem, OR. She has always enjoyed learning new stitches for hand sewing and would listen to books on tape or sit in the room listening while Willy watched TV. She has given away many of her sewing projects including crocheting afghans for some of her grandchildren when they graduated. She has kept many to decorate the walls of her home. Mary has been a member of First Baptist Church of Oregon City for 40 years. She has taught the Adventurers adult Sunday school class for many years. She was the treasurer of the Women’s Willamette Association and of her church’s AB Women’s ministry. She and Willy volunteered at HOPE (Help Other People Eat) where she would do the ordering and keep the records for the church. Mary has also traveled the world. She went to Europe with her sister Sis and cruised Alaska, the Caribbean and Panama Canal with Willy. Mary and Willy have taken bus tours through national parks and to New England in the fall. They even took the train across Canada. Beginning in Oak Grove until even now, Mary and Willy always made room for those who needed a place to live. They were always generous and hospitable. Mary always had a listening ear and would visit with family and friends in person and on the phone for hours. She had a weekly date with her sisters either in person or on the phone. Saturday mornings became the time she and Sis would talk on the phone; even to the end of her life. When her grandchildren were young she followed what her mother had done, by taking each one out by themselves to lunch and shopping for their birthday. This way she could spend special time with each one. When she began having great grandchildren she always sent a card with a dollar for each age. She even gave a card gave a card to Lexi and Taylor whose birthdays were after her passing. Mary always had a word of encouragement and wisdom to share along with her love and faith in Jesus Christ. She was accepting of everyone and could talk with a stranger like they were her good friend. She had a contagious smile that made anyone feel welcome. She was always taking notes and writing things down like events and happenings as well as Bible verses and things she was learning in the Bible. She had an optimistic spirit and giggled easily. She was a trustworthy friend to all and prayed for others. Mary never complained about the difficult health issues she faced; she was diagnosis with emphysema in 1988. She was not afraid to go up to a person who was smoking, show them her oxygen tube and tell them to quit smoking so they didn’t have to be on oxygen the rest of their life. The last few weeks of her life she was more concerned for Willy than for herself. No beauty shines brighter than a good heart and Mary had one of the best hearts. She loved the Lord Jesus and she stood strong in her faith through all her years. There were some tough ones to be sure, but she didn’t waiver. To make a difference in someone’s life you don’t have to be brilliant, rich, beautiful or perfect. You just have to care. Mary was the one who cared for others and she knew how to cast her cares upon the One who loves us more than we can fathom. Mary will be missed by us here, but we know she is smiling in the arms of the one who has cared for her all these years. Until we meet again, We Love You