Mary Lou Christian

Mary Lou Christian, 91, passed away on Tuesday, September 9th at Heritage Estates in Gering from complications of congestive heart failure and circulatory issues. She is now with her LORD and Savior in a much better place in Glory. She will be greatly missed by her friends and family who knew her as a very kind and generous person.

A memorial service will be October 4 at 1:30 pm Gering Zion Church. Burial at West Lawn Cemetery in Gering.

A memorial called the Mary Christian Nursing Scholarship has been established as a scholarship fund for graduates of Gering High School who will enroll in nurse’s training ([email protected] or make checks payable to Mary Christian Memorial Scholarship PO Box 81, Gering, NE 69341). Fond memories and condolences may be left at www.geringchapel.com. Gering Memorial Chapel is handling funeral arrangements.

Mary Lou Schroat Christian was born on January 24th, 1934, at Mercedes Texas to Silas Schroat and Minnie (Mary) Chambers Starling Schroat. Mary Lou was born into a true “Brady Bunch” type family as her mother had seven children from a previous marriage, while her father had three children from a previous marriage. Silas and Minnie Schroat then had three more children of their own, Mary Lou being the youngest, the baby of the family.

Her father was a truck farmer for a large grocer in Illinois. He had gone to the Rio Grande Valley and cleared the land, prepared the fields and set up irrigation for the many crops that were grown. Mary grew up on the farm and things were not easy during the depression and World War II.

Mary excelled at school and won the top history student award in the Mercedes schools. She enjoyed her pet animals including her Boston terrier Connie and her pet badger Charlie. Her aunt and uncle owned dairy cattle nearby, so there was always milk and sometimes ice cream on Sunday.

Mary’s mother Minnie Schroat died of cancer when Mary was eleven years old. This had an enormous impact on Mary’s future. Mary had done much to take care of her mother as she was dying and she felt a calling to become a nurse. Mary’s father wanted her to stay on the farm, but this would affect her schooling, so her brother Herman took Mary under his wing to become part of his family for a time. She moved to Fort Lewis Washington where Herman was stationed as a career member of the U.S. Army.

After a time, Mary went south to Santa Barbara, California and stayed with her sister Shirley while she completed her education, graduating from Santa Barbara High School and earning two scholarships to nursing schools. She had earned a scholarship to the Johns Hopkins Hospital Nursing School in Baltimore but chose the Knapp College of Nursing at the University of California at Santa Barbara to stay close to home. Her nursing training was intense and included giving compassionate care to all of her patients, whether they be farm workers or Hollywood celebrities who were in her care under an assumed name.

While Mary was in nurse’s training, she met Paul Christian who was attending Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara. They married in October of 1955 in Santa Barbara then made their home in Gering. Paul opened Christian Photography Studio and Mary went to work as office nurse for Dr. Lovett in downtown Scottsbluff.

Mary and Paul had 3 children: David in December 1957, Kim in January 1963, and Kurt in August 1964. Mary was a homemaker, but her nursing career continued as a night nurse at West Nebraska General Hospital, St. Mary’s Hospital, and several nursing homes in the community. Her kids always came first and she sacrificed much for them and pointed them to Jesus. She made sure that they all had A as a middle initial so that after their first names they would be known as A. Christian.

Mary and Paul divorced in 1978. Mary’s nursing career continued and lasted for 50+ years in Nebraska, Colorado, and Wyoming. After her retirement from nursing she lived in the Denver area for a time then moved to Vermont for 20 years to be close to her daughter’s family. She came back to Nebraska in 2019 and moved into assisted living at the Vista until declining health took her into nursing care at Heritage Estates in February 2025 where she passed away on September 9th.

Mary enjoyed sewing, collecting and trying new recipes, crafts, listening to music, collecting images of birds and butterflies, time at church, and following her grandkids and great-grandkids growth and activities. She always enjoyed pets, animals, and people and had “honorary” kids and grandkids wherever she went.

Mary Lou Christian spent her life serving others and would literally give people the gloves off of her hands if she thought they needed them more than she did. She was proud of her accomplishments in nursing and of her children’s and grandchildren’s accomplishments. She was blessed to know 5 great-grandchildren. It has been said of her that “she could never do enough for anyone”, meaning that she had a true servant’s heart and that “her kindness was infinite.”

Mary was preceded in death by her grandparents; her parents Silas and Minnie Schroat; her half-siblings Herman, Shirley, Ruth, Louise, Paul, Evelyn, and Everett Starling; Mildred, Geraldine, and Floyd Schroat; her full-siblings Martin and Donald Schroat, and her son-in-law Sean O’Connor.

She is survived by former husband Paul of Mitchell; son David (Kris) Christian of Gering; daughter Kim Christian O’Connor of Gering; son Kurt Christian of Galt, California; granddaughters Molly Christian Howard (Nick) of Moorhead, Minnesota; Mandy Christian Murphy (Anthony) of Hastings, Nebraska; and Sara O’Connor Ryan (Jason) of Lyndonville, Vermont; great-grandchildren Camden, Bennett, and August Murphy and Zachary and Caroline Howard. She is also survived by cousins, nephews, and nieces which are too numerous to list.

The family would like to thank Dr. Sero, the staffs of Regional West Medical Center, the Vista and of Heritage Estates for all of the loving care that they gave Mary.