Mary E. Krieger

Mary Ellen Krieger, 95, of South Bend, beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, passed away on Tuesday, Aug. 1, at Sanctuary at St. Paul’s, South Bend.

Mary was born in Peoria, Illinois, on October 16, 1921.

Left to cherish her memories are daughters, Lynne (Chuck) Medlock and Kim (Steve) Criddle; son, Bill (Mel) Krieger and Kevin (Anette) Krieger; grandchildren, Debbie (Wayne) Brown, Susie (Bobby) Hayles, Megan (Ryan) Lapelle, Morgan (Grant) Gibson, Chris (Ashley) Medlock, Michael Medlock, Kary (Tyler) Wells, Mara Bowers, Jessica (Brent) Hodges, Jason Krieger and Nathan Krieger. Mary also has 14 great grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Orville; sons Raymond and Ronnie and grandson Chaz.

Mary and her husband Orville travelled the world together during their 52 years of marriage, spending many memorable vacations in Mauna Kea, Hawaii.

If there was a Mother of the Year award, she would have won First prize. Mary devoted her entire life to her husband and children. The memories we cherish surround life’s little things: feeding the ducks off the pier on Lake Wawasee, driving out to the country over a rickety wooden bridge to get fresh eggs, and many miles every Friday for those homemade black raspberry pies! Mary raised her children to be kind, gentle and eternally optimistic. “Things always have a way of working out,” she would say.

In accordance with her wishes, a celebration of life will be held privately at a later date.

As a fond memory for her children, in lieu of flowers, we ask you to take a minute and “breathe it all in”—Mary’s favorite words of wisdom. We often wondered what she meant. Now we know…and we will.   And to you sweet Mama…We will forever be honored to have been blessed with you as our mother. You will be dearly missed.

Yoder-Culp Funeral Home is assisting with arrangements.