Mary Kathleen Broege

Mary Kathleen Broege was a loving wife, mother, step-mother, grandmother, sister, and friend. She passed away at the age of 76 in her home that she loved with Bill, after a 14-month long battle with lung cancer. She fought a great fight and kept an amazing attitude of faith and gratefulness throughout that time, thanking God for all of her blessings regularly. She was born in Fresno, California to Cecil and Marjorie Phebus on May 3, 1947 and had one brother, Jim. She is survived by her husband Bill Broege, brother Jim Phebus and his wife Earla, son Michael Sanders and wife Marci, daughter Fahmie Geron and husband Dror, step-daugthers Sommer Garces and husband Steve, April White, and grandchildren Jonah and Jaden Geron, Logan and Brody Sanders, and Fate and Miette Garces. Mary loved being outdoors, riding horses, and driving fast cars. She graduated from Clovis High School in 1965, where she met and married her high school sweetheart Michael Elliott. Sadly, he passed away while she was pregnant with her first-born Michael James. A few years later she met and married Stanley J. Sanders, who immediately fell in love with Michael and insisted on adopting him. Stan and Mary then had their daughter Fahmie Ann. Eventually, she met and married her soulmate and life partner Bill Broege, with whom she gained two step-daughers, Sommer and April. They had a loving marriage where they spent every minute together, working and playing for 40 years. Bill was an amazing husband and ultimately her caregiver, being devoted to her every need, especially in the last few years of her life.

Mary was a spirited, happy, strong-willed, and fun-loving person who loved music and salmon fishing on the Sacramento River. She loved her peach farm in Red Bluff, and entertaining and cooking for her family and friends. She loved to gamble and play the slot machines at Table Mountain, was a great friend, and never met a stranger, making fast friends everywhere she went. If you were lucky enough to be loved by her, you knew what unconditional love was. Mary will be greatly missed by all.

A visitation for Mary will be held on Tuesday, June 6, 2023 from 9:00 to 10:00 AM at Whitehurst Sullivan Burns & Blair Funeral Home, 836 E. Nees Ave., Fresno, CA 93720 with a Chapel Funeral Service that will follow at 10:00 AM.

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