Mary Lou Gaeddert

Mary L. Gaeddert died on July 4, 2025 at Kidron Bethel Village, North Newton, Kansas. She was 94.

Mary Lou Voran was born October 7, 1930, in Kingman County, Kansas, the daughter of Fred Ernest and Edna Mary (Graber) Voran. Mary was a graduate of Kingman High School and attended Bethel College (Kansas) where she received a teaching certificate. Mary taught first grade in Sedgwick, Kansas, before marrying John W. Gaeddert on June 1, 1951 at Bethany Mennonite Church in Kingman County. 

Mary described herself as a “helpmate” to her teacher/pastor husband, moving from rural Lehigh, Kansas to urban Chicago, Illinois and suburban Elkhart, Indiana; from Henderson, Nebraska to faraway Congo/Zaire; from the parsonage at Tabor Mennonite Church to a house in North Newton and finally to Kidron Bethel Village.  At each stop along the way Mary had many jobs: teaching Sunday School, hosting church members and visiting speakers at the family home, and being stay-at-home mom to Susan, Dee and Russ. She sewed outfits and cooked meal after meal after expertly prepared meal. She helped her kids put on a circus for the neighborhood. Singing in church and community choirs was one of her life’s great joys, and Mary anchored every soprano section she ever sang in. She did daily battle with John’s many cowlicks. John’s career took the family many, many places, and Mary made a home wherever they went. 

But how do you make a home in the capital city of a country recently and violently overthrown in a coup? In Kinshasa in the 1960s, Mary did it, working with unfamiliar ingredients and in uncertain times, setting tables for her kids and famished Pax men alike. How do you make a home when the church owns it, when little is yours alone and all eyes are on you as the pastor’s wife? In rural Goessel, Mary did it, as the Vietnam War raged, protests erupted and the children grew. How do you make a home when all you had was sold off before the previous move? How do you make a home when the bank account dips dangerously low? When you feel utterly spent, at your wit’s end? Mary did it. Mary Lou Gaeddert made her homes well, with love, talent and determination.

With the children grown and the demands at home more manageable, Mary began a second career as a copy editor and proofreader for Faith and Life Press and a typesetter for Mennonite Press in Newton, Kansas, retiring in 1992. The need for careful precision and sustained attention suited Mary. Under her watchful eye, many a “who” became a “whom.” 

The dictionary tells us there is a difference between “love” and “like”; Mary loved all, as Jesus taught, but she had no particular fondness for the players and coaches of teams that opposed her Kansas Jayhawks, Kansas City Chiefs, and Kansas City Royals. Special enmity was reserved for the likes of John Elway and Kirby Puckett. Puckett once apologized in writing to Mary for hitting a game-winning home run against the Royals. Whether Mary truly accepted that apology is unknown, but that restaurant ticket autographed by Puckett maintained a place of pride on the Gaeddert pinboard for many years. 

Mary is survived by three children: Susan Bartel (Allan) of North Newton, Kansas; Dee Gaeddert Dorsey (Jim) of Grant, Minnesota.; and Russell Gaeddert (Jean Flickinger) of Hutchinson, Kansas; four grandchildren: Nathan Bartel (Kendra Burkey), Megan Bartel (Chris Lowen), Adam Gaeddert (Rebecca Woodruff), and Sam Gaeddert (Keila Quenzer); six great-grandchildren; and sisters-in-law Lois Strong and Velma Stoesz. 

She was preceded in death by her parents; three brothers, Dallas Voran, Paul Voran (Benetta and second wife Grace), and Robert Voran; one sister, Helen M. Voth (Orville); and her beloved husband of 69 years, John W. Gaeddert. 

The family will celebrate Mary’s life in a private service at a later date. Memorial gifts may be made to Bethel College (Kansas) or Mennonite Central Committee. She will be dearly missed. May she rest in peace.