Mary Jean Somers

Mary Jean Somers
MARY JEAN SOMERS, 90 of Waseca passed away April 12, 2019 after suffering a stroke.
Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Tuesday, April 16th at 11:30 a.m. at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Waseca, with Father Gregory Leif, Celebrant. Interment will be in the Calvary Cemetery, Waseca. Visitation will be held 1 hour prior to the funeral at Sacred Heart.
Mary Jean was born February 5, 1929, to Raymond and Florence (Wobschall) Connors.  Her father died when she was 3, and her mother remarried Eugene P. Matz Sr. when she was 12.  Her mother and infant brother died when she was 16.  The losses she suffered created in her a desire to stay close to her remaining family.
She attended Sacred Heart School, with a brief stint at Country School for 8th grade.   Upon graduation she attended Midwestern Schools, Inc., in Kansas City and graduated with a diploma in Airline Communications Training. Upon hearing they would relocate her to New York, she chose to stay and work in Kansas City. Her first job was with Southwestern Bell Telephone Company. She received the job because one of the Vice Presidents saw she listed George Herter as a reference, and he had every catalog Herters had put out.  Her next job was her favorite job ever – working for Dr. Wilhelm at the Research Clinic in Kansas City.  She began missing her family, and her sister Maureen encouraged her to come back home and "marry that nice John Somers", so eventually, she did.  After her marriage she continued to work from home as a typist for Wesley Klinger, a court reporter, and later worked part time for the Waseca Abstract Company.
She was married to John Somers on January 21, 1956. They were best friends and had great fun together until Johns death on November 21, 2000.  One of her greatest sources of pride was being able to keep him at home until his death from cancer.
Mary Jean loved crossword puzzles, reading, Twins baseball, watching her sons play softball, playing cards, and her Catholic faith. Mary Jean cherished her warm extended family and took great pride in her children and grand-children.  Over the years she opened her home to various friends and family members who needed a place to stay.  When it was discovered she liked to bake her grandmothers cuchen during snowstorms, it became THE PLACE for her husbands brothers and friends to get snowed in for all-night card games and coffee cake.  She was a member of Sacred Heart Church, a member of Catholic Daughters, and of St. Lucys Circle.  As a child she was a girl scout, and she and John delivered Meals on Wheels for many years.
She was known for her wit, her intelligence, her great sense of humor, and her loving, gentle and kind heart.  Unless she was playing cards with you.
Mary Jean is survived by her children, Matt (Cindy) Somers of Waseca; Ray (Lori) Somers of Waseca; Patty (Mike) Masberg of Waseca; Paul Somers of South St. Paul; by her grandchildren Becky Somers, Andrew Somers, Steven Masberg, Kat Masberg, Jackson Von, Greg Somers, Alec Somers, and William Somers, and by great grand-son Ryan Von; by her siblings Maureen (Joseph) Collins of Janesville, Patricia Scaletta of Winnipeg, Millie Szyszka of Shakopee, Eugene P. (Sandy) Matz of Waseca; sister-in-law Alverna Somers of California, and by many nieces, nephews, and god-children.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her stepfather Eugene Matz Sr.; her stepmother Elsie (Hart) Matz; her husband, John Somers; her two sons, Gregory Somers and Stephen Somers, who died at birth; her infant brother who died at birth; her sister Andrea Olsen; and by many brother and sisters-in-law.