Mary Margaret Reitz

Mary Margaret Reitz, SFCC, of Tacoma, WA, was called home on April 22, 2025. Mary was born in Cleveland, Ohio to parents Edmund and Angeline Reitz on March 15, 1928. She graduated from High School in Miles City, MT, and entered Catholic religious life by joining the Ursuline community in 1946. She graduated from the College of Great Falls with a Bachelor of Arts in Education in 1958 and went on to earn a Master of Arts in Theology from the University of Notre Dame in 1971. Mary transferred to the Sisters for Christian Community in 1984, and she remained a member of this community until her death. She taught school in Montana, Idaho, and California. She later worked at several parishes in the Pacific Northwest, coordinating Religious Education and the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults and working in various ministries including with seniors, with women fleeing situations of domestic violence, and with incarcerated youth and women. She was a member of the Mountaineers Club for many years and was a volunteer usher at performing arts theaters in Tacoma. She lived independently until her passing at age 97.

Mary loved the outdoors, cross-country skiing, feminist theology, the sounds of a meadowlark singing and of classical music, questioning her family’s nutrition and fitness habits, sending newspaper and magazine clippings to her nieces and nephews to justify new nutrition and fitness habits, and a daily Black Velvet nightcap. She was an avid reader of talking books in her later years and a lifetime lover of public broadcasting. Mary was an outspoken social justice advocate with a strong disdain for violence wherever it exists - in sports, movies, and the world. Mary had a warm heart, a wide and welcoming smile, a steady twinkle in her eye, a gracious presence, and a pervasive sense of humility and humor.

She is predeceased by her parents and her four brothers: Eddie, Jim (Robbie), Jack (Mary Lyn), and Joseph Reitz. She is survived by her eight nieces and nephews and their eleven children: Mike Reitz, wife Pam and children Bailey (Patrick) and Garrett (Sable); Marie Doremus, husband Rob and children Nicholas, Jaclyn, and Ryan; Melanie Reitz; Rita Bauer, husband Bart and children Erich and Helen; Matt Reitz, wife Dawn and son Cooper; Jim Reitz, wife Lyn and daughter Shaile; Jeanne Fekade-Sellassie, husband Abbie and children Gigi and Alemé; and Johnny Reitz.

Mary will be laid to rest in a private ceremony with family members.

All are welcome to sign the online guestbook below and add any messages or stories for the family.