Mary Beth Goering

Mary Elizabeth ("Mary Beth") Goering, 85, passed away on November 27, 2025 at The Cedars in McPherson, Kansas following a number of weeks in hospice.
Mary Beth was born in Hillsboro, Kansas on February 4, 1940, the daughter of Herbert and Elsie (Goertz) Funk. She was the eldest of three daughters. The family lived and worked on a farm north of unincorporated Canada, Kansas, where the Marion Reservoir now stands. They attended Brudertal Mennonite Church.
Mary Beth graduated from Hillsboro High School in 1957. She then attended Bethel College in North Newton, Kansas for two years. While there, she met fellow student Marvin Goering, whom she married at Bethel College Mennonite Church on June 4, 1959. Thereafter, Mary Beth transferred to Marymount College in Salina, Kansas, where Marvin was teaching at Salina South Junior High. She graduated with a degree in biology in 1961.
Mary Beth and Marvin began married life on a farm east of McPherson, Kansas where they lived until Marvin's death in 2022. The couple had two daughters: Anne Elizabeth, born in 1963, and Gail Marie, born in 1964.
Most of Mary Beth's life was devoted to the family farm, although she periodically served as a substitute science teacher in the McPherson secondary schools during the 1960s and early 1970s. Throughout her time on the farm, she maintained large vegetable and flower gardens. Mary Beth was an accomplished seamstress, making many of the family's clothes. Her love of sewing expanded into a passion for designing, making and restoring quilts, a craft she pursued until the end of her life. She was a founding member of the McPherson Quilt Guild and served as a board member of the Kansas Quilters Organization. She donated many hours of time and expertise to the Mennonite Central Committee Central States Quilter's Corner, and to the annual quilt auction at the MCC Relief Sale in Hutchinson, Kansas. Mary Beth also had a keen interest in local history and volunteered at the McPherson Museum for a number of years. One of her favorite activities was going to auctions and garage sales, where she always was on the lookout for antique quilts and needlework, and items of local historical interest. She enjoyed restoring old furniture she bought at sales, often working together with Marvin.
Mary Beth is survived by her daughter Anne Groves, husband Jan and granddaughter Lia of Valley Center, Kansas; her daughter Gail Goering of rural Lehigh, Kansas; her sister Myrna Bartel of Manhattan, Kansas; her sister Rosanne Troxel of Hillsboro, Missouri; her sister-in-law Paula Goering of rural Galva, Kansas; and numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; her brother-in-law Stanley Bartel; her brother-in-law David Troxel; her sister-in-law Margaret Schrag and husband Walter; her brother-in-law Virgil Goering and wife Verna; her brother-in law Melvern Goering and wife Erma; her brother-in-law Duane Goering and wife Neva, and her brother-in-law Kenneth Goering.
A visitation will take place on Thursday, December 11, 2025 from 6 pm to 8 pm at Glidden-Ediger- Wiggins Chapel, McPherson, Kansas. Burial will take place on Friday, December 12, 2025 at 10 am at Eden Mennonite Church Cemetery, Moundridge, Kansas. A memorial service will follow at 11 am at Eden Mennonite Church, with luncheon thereafter in the fellowship hall.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Mennonite Central Committee, to The Cedars, or to Gentiva Hospice. Contributions may be sent to Glidden-Ediger-Wiggins Funeral Home, 222 West Euclid Street, McPherson, KS 67460. To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Mary, please visit our floral store.