Mary Anne Pristelski

Mary Anne (Dales) Pristelski went home to our Lord on Monday, September 29, 2025 at age 80, in Goodyear. AZ. She was born in a late winter snow storm in Monroe, WI on April 27, 1945. She grew up in Beloit, WI as the only child of her parents, Chester Lowell Dales and Edna (Lorts) Dales. She is a graduate of Beloit Catholic High School, Edgewood College and St. Mary's School of Nursing in Madison, WI. On December 17, 1966, she married James Pristelski at St. Jude church in Beloit. During most of her life, she resided in Arlington Heights, IL and then in Huntley, IL. In 2021, she retired to Goodyear, AZ.

Mary is predeceased by her parents. She is survived by her husband, James, by her three sons, Brian (Athena), Brent (Vanessa) and Jeffrey (Tabitha Myers), by her grandchildren, Aaralyn, Braden, Collin and Evan, and by her great grandchild, Ezra.

Mary was proud of her career and accomplishments. She was an emergency room nurse in Cedar Rapids, IA during 1967-1970, a member of the organ transplant team at the University of

Iowa Hospitals in Iowa City, IA during 1970-1972, and an operating room nurse in major hospitals in the northwestern suburbs of Chicago during 1973-2005. After almost 40 years of nursing, she became a victim of hand tremors and lost confidence in her ability to correctly hand the doctor the next medical instrument or medical supply.

About the same time, she saw an ad from Ave Maria University promoting advanced theological degrees. She always had a strong interest in her Christian religion, and had taken a number of

undergraduate religious courses at Mundelein College in Chicago during her nursing career. She enrolled at Ave Maria, and in 2008 received a Masters of Theological Studies degree. Thereafter, she taught her religion at many schools and churches throughout northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin.

Visitation for Mary will be held at 4:30pm to 8pm on October 16, 2025 at the Thompson Funeral Home at 926 S. Litchfield Rd. Goodyear, AZ. Funeral Mass will be at 10am on October 17, 2025 at St. Thomas Aquinas Church at 13720 W Thomas Rd. Avondale, AZ. Burial will take place the same day at 11:30am on October 17, 2025 at 9925 W Thomas Rd. Avondale, AZ.