Topic, Mary Jane

Mary Jane Topic, a former Cedar Rapids resident, died Thursday, Dec. 30, 2011, in Chula Vista, Calif., after a long illness. Funeral mass: 10:30 a.m. Friday at St. Matthew Catholic Church by the Rev. David Beckman. Interment: Oak Hill Cemetery. A vigil service will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday at Cedar Memorial Park Funeral Home where friends may call from 4 to 7 p.m. and after 9:30 a.m. Friday at the church.

She is survived by her sons, Tom of Charlotte, N.C., Dan, of Coronado, Calif., and R.D. of Oak Park, Ill.; and grandchildren, Julia and Marian Hunting of San Francisco, Calif.

Mary Jane was preceded in death by husbands, Dr. Ralph D. Hunting, Dr. Glenn Harvey and Col. Peter Topic; sons, Larry Hunting and John D. Hunting, all of Cedar Rapids; and grandson, John A. Hunting, of Coronado, Calif.

Mary Jane was born in Virginia, Minn., on Dec. 14, 1915, to Tom and Julia Madden and graduated from the University of North Dakota. She married Ralph D. Hunting Jr. “Dresser,” a long time Cedar Rapids resident, whom she met in Chicago while working in radio advertising and free lance writing for the Chicago Daily News. After World War II, Ralph and Mary Jane settled in Cedar Rapids, where she was active in St. Matthew's Church, Catholic Charities, Junior League, Ladies' Literary Club and the auxiliaries of St. Luke's and Mercy Hospitals. She also continued writing, publishing articles in the Iowa Magazine.

Mary Jane will be deeply missed by her family and many friends in Iowa and Minnesota who will treasure the memories of Mary Jane's wit, charm and love of life. She enjoyed many happy summers at her lake home on Gull Lake, Minn., where she and husband Peter “Pete” Topic were known to throw the best parties in the neighborhood.

Memorials may be directed to the Alzheimer's Association of America.

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