Muller, Mary

Muller, Mary Catherine

MULLER, Mary Catherine, Born in Dayton, Ohio August 17, 1931, the heart of the Depression, to Stephen Wilkes Thompson (first American in uniform to shoot down an enemy plane) and Dorothy Mary Wright Thompson. She turned ten just after Pearl Harbor and the US joining WWII. These things shaped her life. She died 4/7/24 at Hospice of Dayton.

Before the war, her family spent summers at Lakes Papakeechie and Wawasee. She loved the water. She saw Snow White at first release (her first movie) and loved her ever since. She attended Camp Fire Girls Camp Shawano's opening year as Kounselor in Training (KIT).

She graduated Fairview HS (1949) before Ohio State University (1953) where she was at the infamous Snow Bowl. She interned at B. Altman in NYC, a time she never forgot. She was a huge fan of the Buckeyes and The Best Damn Band in the Land.

A buyer at Rike's, she returned to school (University of Dayton) to become a teacher (Kemp Elementary) until forced out for starting her family.

Mary was a member of the Dayton Altitudians, part of Tall Clubs International, where she met her husband George. They married 7/30/1960. Fall of 1961, they built their home in Huber Heights where Mary lived for the next 62 years until moving in with daughter Beverly (helped by Catherine) in Miamisburg, then to Tapestry Springboro Assisted Living September 2023.

The last charter member of St. Matthew Evangelical Lutheran Church, she was active in LWML, Ladies Guild, and choir. She was a 38-year member of Gem City Chorus (Sweet Adelines), winning numerous awards and International competitions, and the New Carlisle Community Chorus.

Mary loved theater seeing Brigadoon when it opened on Broadway. She loved swing music, Mario Lanza and thought time should have stopped at 1940s music (although she loved Josh Groban and Michael Buble). She saw Johnny Cash in the mid-50's and thought he was OK, too.

An expert seamstress, she made family clothes and untold Sweet Adelines costumes (and cat woman costumes). She loved her family, family reunions, movies/TV, cats, ice cream, fragrant carnations, Grandpa's tomatoes, travel/cruises, and Caramel Ribbon Crunch Fraps.

She was preceded in death by her husband George E. Muller Jr., her parents, her brothers Robert J. Thompson and Stephen W. Thompson, and Geneva Rowe who helped raise her and was the sister she never had.

She is survived by her children Catherine Muller (Larry Harmon), Beverly Muller Ridgway (Dale), and George E. Muller, III (Jennifer); her grandchildren, Emily and Catherine Eleanor Harmon, Crystal Smith (Chris) and Billy Smith, Devin Muller (Samm Swagler), Erin Peters (Nick), and Conor Muller; her great-grandchildren Grayson, Cohen, and Crosley Smith and Declan, Lincoln, and Riley Peters; the "New Orleans and Atlanta Mullers" and her Alburquerque nieces, nephews, and families.

Funeral service 12 Noon Monday, April 15, 2024 at St. Matthew Lutheran Church, 5566 Chambersburg Road. Interment Royal Oak Memorial Gardens. The family will receive friends on Sunday from 2-4 at Marker & Heller Funeral Home, Huber Heights Chapel, 5844 Old Troy Pike and also from 11 AM until service time on Monday at the church. If desired, memorial contributions may be made to Ohio's Hospice of Dayton in Mary's memory.

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