Mary Jane (Rouse) Kuntschik

Mary Jane Rouse Kuntschik, 93, of Dallas passed away peacefully at home on February 14, 2021 following a brief illness. She was born on May 21, 1927 in Minneapolis to Virginia Mabel Greene and Lambert Hopkins Rouse.

Growing up in Minneapolis, Mary Jane enjoyed outings to Elk Lake, ice skating, volleyball, biking, and playing jacks. She belonged to the Camp Fire Girls and won a week to summer camp by selling 432 dozen doughnuts when she was 12 years old! She told stories about the days of rationing during World War II and dancing with GIs at the USO. Shortly after graduating from high school her family moved to Dallas in 1945, and she went to work for the Kellogg Sales Company as secretary to the District Sales Manager. In 1947, she met Ed Kuntschik of Gonzales, TX at a housewarming party for her sister and married him in February 1950.

Her life's passion was a dedication to her family and friends. She was a charter member of St. Monica Catholic Church and was active as a room mother, a Girl Scout leader, and a volunteer in the cafeteria and library while her children attended St. Monica School. While the children were young, she could be found in the kitchen preparing meals, baking cookies, or sewing matching outfits for the girls. There were camping trips to Grapevine Lake, sleeping in an old Army tent on a feather bed and many family vacations, sometimes with 8 people in a station wagon!

When the kids grew up and moved out, she enjoyed traveling overseas with friends and playing cards or penny poker with a fierce competitive spirit. She also attended community college and took a genealogy course which led to 40 years of tracing family roots. This gave her the title of "Historical Matriarch" at the annual Kuntschik Family Reunions in Gonzales. Later, she became active at the Branch Connection in Farmers Branch where she enjoyed playing chair volleyball, even participating in tournaments at age 90!

Thanksgiving was always a special time as the great grandkids looked forward to her tradition of baking pumpkin pies and using the old meat grinder to make fresh cranberry sauce! In more recent years, she even added singing "Over the River and Through the Woods" and reciting "When the Frost Is on the Punkin", a poem she learned in school. Mary Jane always looked forward to family gatherings at Christmas. She delighted in sharing her love for the season with specially prepared treats or deviled eggs and her joy of simply being together. But no holiday gathering would be complete without the singing of Christmas carols. Our voices sounded much better after Ray joined the family, leading us on guitar and pitch, while Melanie accompanied on the piano.

The summer months found most of us enjoying the refreshing splash of water at the pool. It might have been swimming lessons for her kids, swim team competitions for her grandkids, or the introduction of swimming to her great grandkids by their parents at her neighborhood pool. No matter what generation, spending time with Mom, or MawMaw, was always filled with her loving words and welcoming hugs.

Mary Jane is survived by 4 children, Laurel (Ray) Kuntschik Owens, Sharon Kuntschik May, David Rouse (Sue) Kuntschik, and Brian Lambert (Tracy) Kuntschik; grandchildren Melanie Owens (Tim) Kennedy, Allison Owens, Candace May Moss, Ingrid May, Redding (Jessica) May, Jonathan Kuntschik, and Ryan Oliver; great grandchildren Liam and Lilliana Kennedy, Alana and Kaylie Hatfield, Lydia and Margaret Moss, Ella Marlowe and Grace Elizabeth, Waverly and Matilda May, and a host of nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Edgar Adolph Kuntschik in 1982, and her sister Shirley Telfer in 2015.

"A legacy of true value is a legacy made of more than money. It's a legacy conceived in wisdom, nurtured by principle, and sustained by character." David Green

We love you, Mary Jane Kuntschik and thank you for the enduring legacy you have given to us.

A mass of Christian burial for Mary Jane will be held Saturday, March 27, 2021 at 12:00 PM at St Monica Catholic Church, 9933 Midway Rd, Dallas, Texas 75220.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in Mary's memory may be made to St. Monica School Endowment Trust, https:/stmonicaschool.org/endowment-trust.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.calvaryhilldallas.com for the Kuntschik family.