Mary Magdalene Goenner

1938 - 2023

Mary Magdalene (Schmit) Goenner, 85, of St. Cloud and formerly of Brooklyn Center, passed away peacefully on Nov. 17, 2023 at the St. Cloud Hospital.

Funeral mass held at 1 p.m. with visitation starting at 12 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023, at St. Marcus Catholic Church, Clear Lake, Minnesota. Burial and a light lunch following the funeral. Arrangements are being handled by the Williams Dingmann Family Funeral Home. Per Mary's wishes, cremation has taken place.

Mary was born Nov. 15, 1938 in Sauk Rapids, Minnesota, to Wilhemina (Kieke) and Christopher Schmit where she grew up on the family farm. She graduated from Foley High School in 1956 and worked at the St. Cloud Hospital as a housekeeping aide in the pediatrics department. The hospital newsletter wrote an article that described her as "courteous, helpful, happy Mary from 4 South." As the article also states, her love for others was a major factor in her being a friendly, thoughtful employee.

Mary was united in marriage to Ferdinand "Fritz/Fred" Robert Goenner on August 8, 1964 and they moved to Brooklyn Center.

Mary was an active member of St. Alphonsus Catholic Church where she served as an eucharistic minister; managed a booth at the fun fair each year; organized bake sales and corsage sales for Mother's Day; taught non-native English speakers how to speak English; and made crafts for the Christmas Bazaar with her guild, the Infant of Prague. Mary and her CEAP quilting group received a certificate of recognition for performing good deeds in 2017.

Mary enjoyed sewing, dancing the polka, gardening and meeting new people. Mary's greatest love was her family and friends and her time spent with them.

Mary is survived by her husband; children Diane (Craig) Forsman, Lois (Thomas) Mason, Marlene (Brian) Scott, Sara Curlee and her son-in-law Ben Scherer; grandchildren Haley Forsman, Hannah (Steven) Remenar, Ryan (Allison) Forsman, Garrett Forsman, Weston Forsman, Julia Forsman, Lindsey Mason, Jack Mason, Joshua Scott, Rachel (Derrick) Brown, Daniel Scott, Makayla Scott, Wallace Scherer, Clete Scherer and Hudson Curlee; eight great grandchildren; and siblings Ruby Schmit, Lilly (Duane) LaVigne, Theresa Kolb, Delphine Goenner, Dennis (Judy) Schmit and Leonard Schmit.

Mary was preceded in death by her parents; daughter, Cindy Scherer; brother, Donnie Schmit; sisters, Laura Moeller and Henrietta Olson; sister-in-law, Judy Schmit; and brothers-in-law, John Kolb and James Goenner.

Obituary, Guest Book and Video tribute available online: www.williamsdingmann.com.