Mary Hawthorne

Hastings resident, Mary Alice Hawthorne, 84, passed away Sunday, August 10, 2014 at Perkins Pavilion Good Samaritan Society-Hastings Village, Hastings, Nebraska.

Services will be Saturday, August 16, 2014; 11:00 A.M. at All Saints Chapel-Good Samaritan Village, Hastings, NE, with Reverend Jacob Gerber and Reverend Anthony Gerber officiating. Private family burial will be held at a later date. Memorials may be given to AseraCare Hospice of Grand Island. Visitation will be Friday, August 15, 2014; 4:00 P.M. - 7:00 P.M., with the family present from 5:00 P.M. - 7:00 P.M., at the funeral home.

Mary Alice McClurg was born August 19, 1929, the daughter of Glenn and Laura McClurg. She died on August 10, 2014, just 3 ½ months after the death of her husband of almost 65 years, Roger Lee Hawthorne. Mary grew up in Atkinson, Nebraska, happily tormented by her sister Onie and playing with her imaginary friends, Raljean and Nalice. If Mary wanted steak, Onie wanted hot dogs. Hot dogs typically won the day because they were cheaper. In an era of matching sweaters, when Mary was with one of her many boyfriends, Onie was known to appear wearing a sweater from a competing beau. And so it went. Mary graduated as Valedictorian from Atkinson High School and attended Hastings College. At least once she made the return trip from Hastings to Atkinson on the back of a motorcycle, her hair in curlers, alighting short of her home so that her father would be none the wiser. While attending Hastings College, she met and married the love of her life, Roger Lee Hawthorne on June 27, 1949. Mom could bandage the worst cut, stretch a grocery budget with the fierce frugality of her Scottish forebears and go to bat for her kids at the drop of a hat. Shy, but feisty, she didn't need to say "wait until your father gets home". As each and every one of the Hawthorne Seven knew, if it needed to be handled, Mom handled it. She also made sure each and every one of her offspring knew the warmth of her love. Mom wasn't always very demonstrative, but she got her point across and rarely missed a teaching opportunity. An exuberant alto, her nemesis was a dragging organist! We already miss you like crazy Mom, but we're so glad you could be our Mom for as long as you were able. God Bless You- May You Rest in Peace.

Mary was preceded in death by her parents, Glenn and Laura McClurg; husband, Roger Lee Hawthorne; brother, Fred McClurg; sister, Elsie Ann McClurg; and her grandson, Joshua McGibbon Hawthorne.

Survivors include:
Sister:
Mildred Ione "Onie" Tyler - Omaha, NE
Children & Spouses:
Daniel McGibbon & Blythe Hawthorne - Ellensburg, WA
Deborah Sue & Tom Wagner - Billings MT
Barbara Lee & Rod Conner - Antioch, CA
Timothy Mac & Cris Hawthorne - North Ogden, UT
Rebecca Jo & Terry Gerber - Hastings, NE
Jill Ann & Mark Haw - Sacramento, CA
Kent Jay & Tess Hawthorne - Hampton, VA
She was a beloved grandmother to 16 and great-grandmother to 25.