Mary Kutney

1958 - 2016

Mary Kutney, 58, of Eagle River, Alaska, died on Wednesday, March 30, 2016, in her living room, listening to the metronome of her cuckoo clock, surrounded by family and friends. Born in Chicago, Ill., to John and Dorothy Hofbauer, she was the younger of two daughters. Mary attended St. John Fisher Elementary, Mother McCauley Liberal Arts High School and went on to earn her Bachelor of Nursing Degree from College of St. Theresa in Winona, Minn., graduating in 1980. She became a traveling nurse and zigzagged across the country on short term assignments including Honolulu, Boston, Los Angeles and Yellowstone National Park. Her family and friends often joined her on "mini" vacations wherever she went. She accepted three assignments to Alaska before settling here permanently in 1988. Mary began her career in the Great Land as an ICU Nurse at Humana Hospital, and went on to manage the Emergency Room, ICU, CCU and Air Ambulance programs. During her employment she established the Open Heart Program. In 1996, she was hired by the Department Of Veterans Affairs working as a Triage Nurse caring for our veterans. Feeling she could do more for them she enrolled in the "grow your own" program and went on to earn her Masters of Nursing from UAA in 2001, becoming a Family Nurse Practitioner. For the next 15 years she continued to provide compassionate quality care, managing a panel of over 1200 veterans. On June 9, 2001, she married her husband, Kenneth, and instantly became a wife, mother and grandmother. She is preceded in death by her mother, Dorothy; father, John; mother-in-law, Rose; father-in-law, James; and sister-in-law, Virginia Lynn Kutney. She is survived by her husband, Kenneth J. Kutney; stepsons, Ian and Beau Kutney; sister, Carol Neth (Kenneth); step-grandsons, Quintin, Elijah, Orion, Myles and Aiden; along with numerous other beloved family members. A Mass of Catholic Burial will be conducted by Fr. Arthur Roraff on Wednesday, April 6, 2016, at 6 p.m., at St. Andrew Catholic Church, 16300 Domain Lane in Eagle River. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to St. Jude Children's Hospital in memory of Mary Hofbauer-Kutney; 1-800-873-6983 or StJude.org/tributes to select a memorial card. Arrangements are with Janssen's Eagle River Funeral Home.