Well, Mary Ann is celebrating her birthday in Heaven this year, but we all still miss her zest for life. How much she loved life, a good joke and lots of fun. She was sandwiched between Virgil and Bernadette and was dubbed part of the 'Katzenjammer Kids'. (The 'Katzenjammer Kids' was a famous cartoon strip created in 1897 and consisted of German children's stories featuring the adventures of twins, Hans and Fritz. They were fellow warriors in the battle against any form of authority, it is the oldest comic strip still in syndication.) Virgil and Mary Ann were the "twins" in the family and when they were living in DeWitt the Priest used to call almost daily to get Hans (Mary Ann) and Fritz (Virgil) out of the goldfish pond in front of the church. The two grandmas came to live with us about that time and of course Grandma Umthun came when Virgil was a baby and became attached to him, and Grandma Holtkamp came when Mary Ann was a baby and that was her girl. So when trouble came calling, they knew to run behind the grandmas for protection, and protection they got. One time, the grandmas got into an argument about their little angels and one ended up having a wet wash rag thrown at her. Grandma Holtkamp always took a hot brick and Mary Ann to bed with her, one to keep her feet warm and the little body of Mary kept the rest of her warm all night.
We come from many generations of strong women in our family, but especially Mary ann who was a woman who had lived her life with humor, grace and faith.
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