Mary Catherine "Loncharte" Teuber

Mary Catherine (Loncharte) Teuber

September 1, 1943 – September 2, 2025

Mary Catherine Teuber, née Loncharte, was born in Pontiac, Michigan on September 1, 1943, and died peacefully at Henry Ford Hospital in Rochester, MI on September 2, 2025, one day after her 82nd birthday. She lived a rewarding, determined, purpose-filled life. Mary was consistently present, active, and engaged in life until the day she no longer could be. She was hopeful and encouraging, cherished her family, and she was a constant and devoted friend.

Mary grew up in Pontiac and was a proud graduate of St. Fred's Catholic High School. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Early Childhood Education at Marygrove College in Detroit in 1965, where she made special and lasting friendships, and her Master of Arts degree in Elementary Education at Michigan State University in 1969. She was a longtime resident and active community member of Waterford Township, MI until a recent move to Rochester, after 50 years in her family's home in Waterford.

In March 1968, Mary visited Boyne Mountain Resort, MI for a skiing weekend with friends. At the lodge, she met Jack Warner Teuber, who was also there skiing with friends. They would discover that they had both once lived in the same apartment complex in Pontiac, but it took both being up north to meet one another. Mary and Jack were engaged two months after they met and married on December 27, 1968, at St. Benedict Catholic Church in Waterford during an ice storm that became a story of legend. From 1970 to 1976, Mary and Jack welcomed their four children with equally great joy: Jonathan Peter, Michael Stephen, Daniel James, and Sarah Jane – each lucky enough to call her Mom – along with their special family pets, Sam the Dog, Missy the Dog and Pepper the Cat.

Mary was incredibly proud of her career as an early childhood public school teacher, which spanned 45 years. She began teaching in the Head Start program in Detroit in 1965, and early in her career, taught Kindergarten at Riverside School in Waterford and Way Elementary School in Bloomfield Hills. She re-started teaching as a nursery school teacher and in Head Start in Waterford, after devoting early years to each of her and Jack's children. Her career then culminated in her lengthy impactful tenure as a Kindergarten teacher in Waterford Public Schools, at Douglass Houghton Elementary School.

Teaching young children was her calling and her passion, and she was a creative, nurturing, dedicated force at that.

Mary would stay connected to her students and their families beyond their school year. She took great pride in following her former students' paths and often attended their high school graduation open houses - 12 years after she had been their Kindergarten teacher. Those graduates posted photos with their beloved Mrs. Teuber. She loved to learn about where her students would go next and to celebrate their joys and successes.

The impact on those she taught was immense and lasting. In 1991, she was recognized by the Waterford Foundation for Public Education as its first Teacher of the Year Recipient, and she retired in 2010 knowing the joy, friendships and lasting connections teaching brought her. In retirement, she enjoyed continuing to expand people's knowledge by volunteering as a docent at the Detroit Zoo.

Mary's faith was an integral part of her life, one which she practiced daily and privately. She was an active member for many years at St. Perpetua Catholic Church in Waterford, where she met dear and lifelong friends and found a mentor in Sister Mary Schmidlin, followed by many years at Christ the Redeemer Church in Lake Orion, MI where she enjoyed several pilgrimage trips to Europe led by Father Joe Dailey and Father Bill Promesso. She was a regular volunteer without fanfare at the soup kitchen in Pontiac, a scripture reader during Mass, and a religious education teacher.

Meaningful time with family and friends marked every year of her marriage to Jack. She found joys in connecting and gathering friends frequently, throwing and attending barbecues and parties, all things involving food – often cooking for pleasure around the clock, baking, canning fruits, harvesting her and Jack's garden, playing piano, hosting bunko parties and playing family board games, attending concerts with favorites being Johnny Cash and Neil Diamond, movies, bicycling, walking, reading, sharing and listening to stories, and more. The only regret her children recall her mentioning is her decision to sell her 1965 Ford Mustang.

Mary also found joy in travel around the world – including nine trips to visit her son's family in Japan – and she enjoyed travel across Canada, Europe, and the United States - and most especially time spent in all parts of her beloved Michigan. She could speak of adventures in every corner of Michigan's Upper and Lower Peninsulas, from crossing the Mackinac Straits by ferry boat before the bridge was built to visit her Grandmother in Bessemer, to family trips to climb Sleeping Bear Dunes, swim at Spider Lake, or walk across Tahquamenon Falls, and to her final road trips with Jack across every region of the state. She and Jack completed the Mackinac Bridge walk seven times.

An equal passion of Mary's was the Detroit Tigers baseball team. In a family full of baseball fans, it turns out that Mary was the family's most rabid fan. Periodic trips with Jack, including in her final year of life, to Tigers spring training in Lakeland, FL led to her collection of caps and jerseys signed by players she would seek out in the stadium or parking lot. Attending games at Tiger Stadium and Comerica Park in Detroit, even in her challenging final season, brought her happiness.

This all describes a short version of Mary's long, rich, and full life.

Mary was preceded in death by her devoted father, Peter C. Loncharte, while she was a teenager; by her dearly beloved mother, Catherine Springhetti Loncharte at age 94, by her loving in-laws Ruth Trask Teuber and Fritz (Fred) Teuber, brothers-in-law Fred William Teuber and Ralph Teuber, and by many special aunts, uncles, cousins and dear friends.

Mary is survived first and foremost by Jack, her husband of more than 56 years. Mary and Jack were equally and selflessly devoted to one another. Their love and their quiet example endure.

She is also survived by her loving children and special family, Sarah and Rocco Kaleta, Daniel and Eriko Teuber, Michael Teuber, Jonathan Teuber, Fionnuala Teuber, and Jena Bergen Teuber; by her dear sister-in-law Janet Teuber and by her brother-in-law Ronald Teuber; by constant friends who know the space Mary held in her heart for each of them, and by her special goddaughters. As an only child to her parents, Mary loved having the opportunity to call Jack's three brothers and their spouses her sisters and brothers, and she is also survived by Rebecca, Erik, Hans, Claire, Tom, Tracey, Dale, Karen, and Craig, her nieces and nephews whom she loved deeply as their cherished Aunt Mary.

Mary found her greatest joy by actively supporting and celebrating her children's lives and, during the last nearly 30 years of her life, being consistently present and uniquely encouraging to each of her and Jack's ten precious grandchildren. She is survived by and will be fondly remembered by each one: Harrison Teuber, James Teuber and his wife Riley Kloostra Teuber, Nicholas Teuber, Joshua Teuber, Kazuki Teuber, Tomoki Teuber, Stella Kaleta, Rocco Kaleta, Andrew Teuber and Nina Teuber. She welcomed any combination of her family to her and Jack's home without questioning who was not there. She traveled near and far to celebrate and enjoy milestones, special events, and ordinary events. Travel, technology and her deep commitment to supporting each of her grandchildren allowed her to create personal and sincere relationships with each grandchild, no matter the physical distance.

She was rewarded in her final years for working through recovery from multiple injuries and progressively hard challenges from Parkinson's Disease - of which she never complained once - to attend a Teuber Family Reunion, a St. Fred's reunion, and Riley and James' wedding in the presence of all her children and grandchildren. Being recognized at the reception for her and Jack's then 55 years of marriage created memories that will reach generations to come.

Mary's family will welcome visitors on Monday, September 8, 2025, from 3:00 PM to 8:00 PM. Prayer service at 7:00 PM at COATS FUNERAL HOME-WATERFORD. A Funeral Mass in Mary's honor will occur on Tuesday, September 9, 2025 at 11:00 AM at Christ the Redeemer Church in Lake Orion, MI. Interment will follow at Square Lake Cemetery in Lake Orion. In place of flowers, those mourning and giving thanks for Mary's life and legacy are asked to give to the Michigan Parkinson Foundation at Parkinson's Foundation, the Waterford Foundation for Education, and to raise a remembrance of Mary when you visit your favorite place in Michigan.