Erzinger, Mary Helen

Mary Helen Erzinger, 94, passed away at the Guthrie County Hospital on Sunday, Dec. 8, 2013.

Mary Helen Lonsdale was born in Dale City, Guthrie County, Iowa, on Nov. 26, 1919. Mary was the second of six children born to Cecile and Fred Lonsdale. Mary grew up on the family farm and attended country school in Dale City for eight years. She went on to graduate from Stuart High School in May 1937. Mary attended Iowa State College in Ames for one year before moving to Guthrie Center to work in the Guthrie County Recorder's Of?ce. In 1943, she moved to California to take a job at Hughes Air Craft working on the Spruce Goose. She returned to Iowa and met her future husband while attending the University of Iowa.

John George Erzinger and Mary Lonsdale were married at her parents' home in Dale City on Sept. 20, 1946. The couple lived in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where Mary took a job at Western Fraternal Life Association which she held for almost 38 years and George became a Realtor for 50 years. The couple also managed a 26 unit apartment complex for 33 years in Cedar Rapids.

Mary was a member of the First Baptist Church, Church of the Brethren in Cedar Rapids where she sang in the choir. She also greatly enjoyed her work as volunteer for 21 years in the gift shop at the Cedar Rapids Hospital. Mary was the unof?cial Lonsdale Family Historian keeping track of all births, marriages and deaths of family members. She was a kind, generous woman who took care of her family and community.

Mary's husband, George, passed away on July 1, 2005. In November 2006 Mary made the decision to move to Guthrie Center to be closer to her two sisters, Barbara Middleton and Ruth Covault. Mary moved into the New Homestead in December 2006 and became a member of the Guthrie Center United Methodist Church.

She is survived by her son, Ron Selsor (ArvaDell); daughter, Muriel Jorgensen (Joe); six grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; her sister, Ruth Covault (Gifford); and many nieces and nephews.

Services will be held Friday, Dec. 13, at Twigg Funeral Home in Guthrie Center starting with a visitation at 1 p.m., followed by a service at 1:30 p.m. Burial will follow at Morrisburg Cemetery, only three miles from where she was born and raised.

She will be missed by her family.

Published in The Gazette Dec. 11, 2013.