Mary Ellen Rieth, 92 passed into eternity on Sunday, June 2, 2019 surrounded by her children who had been sitting vigil with her for over two weeks, so that she would never be left alone. She was born on July 17, 1927 the oldest child of Frank and Lillian Hahn. Mary Ellen grew up on a farm in New Sweden as a hard working farm girl. She learned to cook and clean with her Mom and how to work a farm with her Dad. She shared all these chores with her sister Dolores and her brother James. Mary Ellen and her family were life long members of Holy Rosary Parish and it was at Mass one Sunday morning that she caught the eye of Arthur Rieth and the rest, as they say, is history. They had the distinction of being the very first couple married in the newly built Church on May 4, 1949.
They started their family almost immediately, and in the next eight years had six children. While she was raising this pack of children, she was also planting a beautiful yard full of every kind of flower and growing a garden to help feed her family. She loved to garden and working her yard was her peace. She often walked the neighborhood on the lookout for new flowers that she could swap with her friends . The first thing you did when you came to visit, was take a tour of her yard, where she would point out her newest additions. Her yard was stunning. She canned everything that her garden could grow so that we could have fruit and vegetables throughout the year. Mary Ellen worked many jobs but the one her children remember the most was working in the kitchen at Holy Rosary Catholic school to help provide her children with a Catholic education. In between all this work, she attended almost all her children"s baseball and football games, drill team performances and practices. Her home was a gathering place for friends, relatives and all of her children's friends. It was well known, that at Mary Ellen's home you could always find a cup of coffee, someone to chat with, feed them, and if you were there long enough a good game of cards. The house was always full of people. She was a master organizer and seemed to be able to accomplish so much (like cooking dinner) without missing a play in cards or dominoes. Mary Ellen, somewhere in her full schedule, learned to play bridge and become an exceptional player. It was the one event on her schedule that we knew she would not change. She played bridge well into her eighties. Mom and Dad also loved to dance and to watch them on the dance floor was a thing of beauty. Her personal favorites were the fox trot and the waltz.
In the last few years, as Mom's health declined and she was moved from home to a retirement center to assisted living and finally to a skilled nursing facility. She would gracefully accept each change and adapt to her new situation. A constant in her life remained her family. All of her children visited her as often as possible often daily and her sister was there to say the rosary with her at least weekly. To have her smile at you, wave, or blow you a kiss just made your day.
Mary Ellen was preceded in death by her husband Arthur and her parents Frank and Lillian Hahn. She is survived by children; Gloria Gibeault (Gerry), Rosalie Lee (Richard), Kenneth Rieth (Judy), Gary Rieth ( Roberta), Mary Donnafield, and Anthony Rieth (Colleen), 15 grandchildren, 22 great grandchildren; Sister Dolores Rieth and brother James Hahn.
Funeral services will be as follows. Rosary on Friday, June 7, 2019 at 6:00pm with a visitation to follow at Buck Miller Hann Funeral Home, 825 E. 17th St., Idaho Falls, Idaho. Funeral Mass on Saturday, June 8, 2019 at 10:00am at Holy Rosary, 145 9th St., Idaho Falls, Idaho
The family would like to thank the nurses and staff at Life Care for their dedication and friendship.
