Mary Helen Schutter, 71, of Overbrook, Kansas, formerly of Topeka and Alma, Kansas, died Friday, May 21, 2010, at the Brookside Retirement Community in Overbook. She was a life-long resident of the area.
Mary Helen was born August 30, 1938, in Wamego, Kansas, the daughter of Walter A. and Marie Schmitt Wertzberger. She attended local schools and graduated from Alma High School in 1955.
Mary Helen was a homemaker. She also worked in her early years for the State of Kansas as a secretary and then many years in the food service at USD 501 in Topeka. She was a member of Holy Family Catholic Church in Alma and then Most Pure Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Topeka. Mary Helen loved to play bingo and she did beautiful cross stitch and needle work. She also enjoyed word search puzzles.
Mary Helen married Robert Lee Schutter on April 18, 1959, in Alma, Kansas. He preceded her in death on July 7, 1998.
Mary Helen is survived by her two daughters, Anna Maria Carroll and her husband, Clark, rural Dwight and Monica Helen Perez and her husband, Juan, Topeka; two sons, Matthew Lee Schutter and his wife, Janet, Broomfield, Colorado and Mario Anthony Schutter and his fiancée, Heather Glover, Osage City; ten grandchildren, Tiffany Carroll, Erin Carroll, Bryan Schlink, Erik Schutter, Brendon Schutter, Diana Perez, Roxanna Perez, Jaquelyn Perez, Sydney Schutter, Cameron Schutter and two great-grandchildren, Kaydence and Boston Schlink. She was preceded in death by her son, Mark Robert Schutter on July 15, 2005.
Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:30 a.m., Tuesday, May 25, 2010, at Holy Family Catholic Church in Alma. Father John Pilcher will the celebrant. Burial will follow in Holy Family Catholic Cemetery. Mrs. Schutter will lie-in-state on Monday, starting at 2:00 p.m. at Campanella-Gentry Funeral Home in Alma, where the family will greet friends from 7:00 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. A rosary prayer service will be held at 7:00 p.m. The family suggests memorial contributions to the Holy Family Catholic Church or the Alzheimer's Association and those may be sent in care of the funeral home. Online condolences may be made at www.campanellafuneral.com.
