It is with great sadness that St. Mary’s University mourns the loss and celebrates the life of one of its dedicated supporters—Mary Magdalene Stengler. Mary passed away on August 23, 2016 at the age of 70 years.

She is survived by Barb (Steve) Wallace and their sons Nick and Ryan; Kris (Darcy) Kerner and their children Tyler, Jordan, Brooklyn and Kayley; Mark (Angela) Stengler and their children Mark Jr., Hope and Luke; Kevin (Glenna) Stengler and their sons Connor, Kaden and Parker; grandson Logan Stengler; sisters Joyce (Denis) Scantland and Gloria Sawchuk; and brother, Sylvester (Annie) Bechal; as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

Mary was a trustee with Christ the Redeemer Catholic Schools for 20 years and served as Board Chair for many of those years up until the time of her death. Mary taught religion classes in Brooks before there was a Catholic School in the town and was co-owner, with her late husband, of Art’s Welding and Pipeline.

Mary had a special interest in Catholic education and her presence, dedication and remarkable work will forever be remembered at St. Mary’s University. She joined St. Mary’s Community Advisory Council in 2003 and served as that group’s Chair from 2015 onwards. On January 1, 2009, Mary joined the Board of Governors of St. Mary’s as the representative of the Community Advisory Council, and was a member of the Audit and Compensation Committees. Mary served at a very critical time in St. Mary’s history and contributed to many initiatives that took place during this period, most notably the establishment of St. Mary’s extremely successful Bachelor of Education program. We are grateful to have benefitted from Mary’s generous contributions of time, treasure and talent. The flag at St. Mary’s will hang at half-mast tomorrow as a tribute to Mary Stengler and to mark the day of her funeral.

Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Wednesday, August 31st at 11:00 AM from St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Brooks and burial at Brooks Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial tributes may be made to St. Vincent de Paul c/o St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Box 578, Brooks, Alberta T1R 1B5.

Obituary: http://www.sfh.ca/fh/obituaries/obituary.cfm?o_id=3869885&fh_id=13823