Mary E. Hamm

Dr. Mary Hamm, age 74, of Rudolph, WI, died Friday, December 26, 2025, at Wisconsin Rapids Health Services after a long bout of Multiple Sclerosis.
A memorial service will be held on Monday January 5, 2026, at 1:30pm at Ritchay Funeral Home in Wisconsin Rapids. Visitation will be held from 1:00pm until the time of service. Deacon Jerry Ruesch will preside. The burial will take place at a later date.
Mary lived a very full life in her 74 years. She often quipped that she had spent her entire life in school. She began teaching at an elementary school near Green Bay immediately upon graduating from college. After about 12 years of teaching, she once again became a full-time student, moving to Colorado to earn her doctorate in Education. It was there that she met her life partner, Dennis Adams. After Colorado, she once again became a teacher, this time at the college level, which took her to Ohio State, and then San Francisco State University for about 25 years. Mary moved back to her roots in Rudolph to retire in 2011.
Mary always had a love of the outdoors. During her early adult life, she cross-country skied with her teaching friends in Peninsula State Park. When she moved to Colorado and San Francisco, she loved to hike in the many beautiful parks those areas had to offer. At the first sign of warm weather, she could always be found outside having a picnic somewhere. She was also an avid football fan and never missed a Packers game. She and Dennis always had a Bernese Mountain Dog, and it was invariably always named Octy.
Mary touched many students' lives and leaves a strong legacy behind in education. She and Dennis together wrote over 25 books on the topics of collaborative learning and discussing how to teach math, science, and technology in today's classrooms. These books are often used by college professors as textbooks for their students and will live on.
Mary is survived by her six siblings, Thomas (George) Hamm of San Francisco, CA; William (Linda) Hamm of Rudolph; Nancy (Mike) Goralski of Hoschton, GA; Linda (Ken) Palm of Spotsylvania, VA; Charles (Rhonda) Hamm of Alliance, NE; and Philip (Laura) Hamm of Rudolph.
Mary was preceded in death by her life partner, Dennis Adams and her parents, Jane and Francis Hamm of Rudolph.