Marylou Alfieri

Wow, what a life. It is with very heavy hearts we are here today but are so blessed with the opportunity to look back at who Mary Lou Alfieri was and celebrate her incredible life. As her children, we didn’t always get to see the side of her other people saw. It has been incredibly heartwarming to hear the beautiful stories her many friends have reached out to share with us.

Mary Louise was born May 8,1940 in Buffalo, New York to Andrew and Margaret Bayerl. Brother Andrew joined her a couple years later. Her immediate family was small, but Mary Lou grew up in a very large, loving and loud extended family on East Lovejoy. There was always coffee in the pot, beer in the fridge, hearty conversation, and room for anyone who showed up at the door.

On June 10,1961 Mary Lou married Michael Anthony Alfieri. And then the family began. Michael Jude was first to arrive 7/63, followed by Ann Margaret 6/64, and Susan Loretta 8/65. Yes, you counted right, that is 3 children in 25 months! About that time, they decided Omaha would be a good place to raise a family and followed her parents west to Nebraska. And the kids just kept coming. Gail Marie passed away shortly after birth from a congenital heart defect, Joseph Gerard arrived 2/69, premature but tenacious, and then Sandra prematurely and unfortunately did not survive. The family was rounded out with James Anthony 5/75 and Mary Beth 1/77.

Mom was always very active and on the go, whether it was volunteering for Jitney lunch at Sacred Heart School, room mother, Brownie/Girl Scout troop leader, or assisting with Cub/Boy Scouts. There were 4H clubs, band concerts, and too many sporting events to count. She also earned extra money with the original work from home job before WFH was a thing…telemarketing. And she killed it!

At 40 years old, she started her journey towards a college degree. Though she had talked of being a nurse for most of her life, she decided to be a teacher. Mike was a senior in high school and MaryBeth a kindergartener. It was a struggle having been out of school for 22 years and with 6 kids, but off she went. And, not surprisingly, she made many wonderful and supporting friends along the way, both faculty and fellow students. She took several classes simultaneously with her kids!

Mom taught 8th grade science and she loved it! She started at St Columbkille, then moved to St Thomas More, then Mars, teaching for 26 years in total. She was the original Miss Frizzle. Her classroom screamed “Take chances, make mistakes and get messy!” It had everything a crazy science teacher would have including a wide variety of class pets. A chinchilla named Yoyo, a hedgehog, birds, and several rabbits. A favorite was a floppy eared rabbit named Dufus. There were snakes, an inground fishpond set on stilts with Koi, rodents, insects, and so…many…gerbils. At one-point gerbils were multiplying so fast they outgrew the cage, so she secretly took several to a park known to have owls. It’s true science she said, survival of the fittest. Shhhh… She was always so proud of her students! This was especially evident when she would run into a former student now an adult, and they would always remember her, not an uncommon occurrence she really cherished. And the fact she drove…guided…four of her students to priesthood was also a source of immense pride. After retiring, she continued to substitute for several years.

Being a teacher and mother was only one part of her life. She loved collections and has sizable collections of lighthouses and bells from across the country and throughout the world. Whenever someone went on a vacation, they came back with a bell for mom to commemorate the visit.

Mom loved her Huskers and Buffalo Bills! And don’t forget the Sabers. Her and Dad would watch every game they could, often at Rays or DJs so they could enjoy buffalo wings. Teams didn’t win very often but she didn’t care, there was always next game and next season.

Mom loved science and geology and never gave up a chance for a new experience. She was a National Park Ranger for Badlands National Park in South Dakota for a few summers. Loved to answer questions from tourists like “Why didn’t they put this in closer to the interstate?” She was very involved with National Science Teachers Association, she’d travel across Nebraska giving presentations and even had the opportunity to represent Nebraska NSTA members in Washington DC.

In 2011 at 70 years old, she was blessed to participate in artic research in Churchill, Manitoba Canada. She was in heaven! Of course, Mike would tease her she was probably the polar bear bait…

The list of experiences and activities goes on. She loved teaching, science, and people. Just really loved people. Anyone who knew her knows she would make friends standing at the deli in Baker’s. Never shy to strike up a conversation and share herself with just about anyone, or compliment a teenager’s manners to his mom, or hand out a prayer card to someone who looked down. She absolutely could not contain the urge to reach out to people.

Mom survived breast cancer, twice, although therapy was one of the worse experiences of her life. During the 2nd battle, her niece Kathy was also diagnosed with breast cancer, so they battled together. Sadly, as hard as she fought, Kathy passed away a few years ago. It was a heartbreak which stayed with Mom till the end.

Mom volunteered at Fontenelle Forest for many years leading nature hikes and giving presentations. Anyone dissect owl droppings lately? She did, weekly. Her and Dad volunteered with St Vincent de Paul community gardens, became state certified as Master Naturalist and Master Gardener. She loved to garden whether it was at St Vincent de Paul gardens or her own backyard. Basil on the deck and tomatoes in the garden made for a tasty lunch.

She also volunteered at St Vincent de Paul thrift shop. She said it humbled her to see people with so little. She loved her church and never said no to a volunteer opportunity there. She made rosaries, was an usher, cleaned the church, acted as a sacristan, participated in perpetual adoration, prayer line both as a giver and receiver, teacher for Youth Group and Teen Faith, and helped with funeral luncheons…just to name a few. She also worked with the prayer shawl ministry. She had difficulty crocheting after her cancer therapies resulted in neuropathy in her hands, but she still loved to hang out and pray with the ladies. Mom had a deep faith in God, we know she died unafraid of her journey with that faith securely tucked in her heart.

But just to show you no one is perfect, she did not like horses, they terrified her. And she didn’t swim so she hated water. Wasn’t a big fan of camping in a tent in bear country either, but then, who could blame her for that.

Most of all, she loved her family, especially those grandkids. Mom had 6 kids, 16 grandkids and 6 great-grandkids. She was always teaching them science, taking them somewhere, doing something with them. Lots of babysitting, going to sporting events, or just hanging out at her house watching a marathon of Star Wars or Harry Potter with lots of candy and soda. What happened at grandma’s stayed at grandma’s. She presided over her granddaughter’s wedding, attending countless high school graduations, and continued to change diapers well into her 70s. She’d give you the shirt off her back, sometimes quite literally.

Mom was committed to taking care of the love of her life, my Dad. If they weren’t watching CSI, they were watching the Bills or Sabers, hanging out with grandkids, or gardening. After the years of raising kids and working, it was now their time to be best friends again, and they were.

The Alfieri family would like to thank you from the very bottom of our many hearts for being a part of this celebration for our mom, for the gift of the stories of her you have given us, and for the love you showed her each and every day. She will continue to live on in all our hearts.

Mom, if love could have saved you, you would have lived forever.