Mary E. (Lenz) Thomas

Mary Elizabeth Thomas, age 77 of Belle Plaine formerly of Rochester, died Wednesday, November 20, 2019 at the Kingsway Retirement Living in Belle Plaine.  A Celebration of Life is tentatively planned for June of 2020.  Interment will then be in Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis. 

Mary was born on July 7, 1942 to Arthur and Rosalia (Witt) Lenz in southwestern, MN. She graduated from New Prague High School in 1960.  She was united in marriage to Gerald ‘Jerry’ Thomas on February 11, 1961 at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Union Hill, MN.
They lived in Austin, MN for a short time and later bought a house in Brownsdale, MN where she worked at the Brownsdale Bank.  They later moved to Rochester, MN where she worked for Coldwell Banker-Burnet Realty.  She then worked for and retired from Charter Communications in Rochester. They moved to Belle Plaine in the fall of 2015.

She enjoyed spending time with her family and friends especially with her grandkids, they meant the world to her.  She was an avid reader, movie fanatic and loved going to the movie theater.  Mary liked to do puzzles, play cards, and go dancing.  She was an active woman, always on the go. She was a 30-year breast cancer survivor and went on to help others with breast cancer.  She also had a knack of making friends wherever she went.  Every year Kingsway Retirement has a contest for the best Christmas card design, and in 2017 Mary was the proud winner of that award.  

She is survived by her children, Audrey Thomas of Phoenix, AZ, Barb (Michael) McClure of Pine Island, MN, Jacqueé Thomas of Topeka, KS, Tony (Ellie Skelton) Thomas of Minneapolis, and Laura Thomas of Rochester; grandchildren, Darin & Nicolle Groteboer, Cedar Thomas, Zander Skelton, Angelina Pyo, Marissa & Kendra McClure; great-grandchildren, Jackson & Annesly Groteboer, Brooks and Pierce Scavio, and Julian Pyo; brothers, Joe Lenz and Norm (Lori) Pint.

She is preceded in death by her parents; step-father, Herman Pint; husband, Jerry; and sister-in-law, Carol Lenz.

To send flowers to the family, please visit our floral store.