Mary Noe

Mary was born in Inwood, Iowa in 1923. She was the fifth child born to Karl and Minnie Schmidt. She was their first girl. Two more sisters and two more brothers completed the Schmidt family. At the time of her birth her father was a general store merchant. In the late 20’s, with the coming Depression and declining business, Karl moved his family to Grand Rapids. The big family moved several times in the general area of Grand Rapids. Her father worked mostly in the furniture business. One July 4th the family won a prize for being the biggest family at Ramona Park.

Mother Minnie loved to play the piano, and the family would sing anytime Minnie felt the family needed to sing. A favorite card game was Flinch. Flinch would be a game that Mary would play many times with her children. In 1938, when Mary was 15 the family moved to a farm south of Coopersville. In time, Karl bought the farm and the farm remained in the family until 1984.

For Mary, the buying of the house meant no more moving. She did mention several times she was glad the family had a permanent home. Mary didn’t care for the outside farm work. She preferred the indoor work, and let her sisters, Pokey and Doris work outside. After graduating in 1940 from Coopersville, she attended MSU for a term with the idea of majoring in Home Economics. Leaving for financial reasons, Mary came home to work as a telephone operator. She remembered being at home when the Pearl Harbor announcement came on the radio. The family had recently installed electricity and bought a radio. Her parents came home from church somber with the realization what war would mean to their family.. ….Eventually five brothers and her husband would see active service.

In the summer of 1942 Mary met John Noe at Turks’s Inn in Nunica. John was from Muskegon and had already graduated from MSU. He was working at the power plant as an engineer . The story is that he came over to flatter her and she said, “What book did you get that line out of?” He had met his match. There are several photos of them fishing at Big Star Lake with mother holding the fish. In the fall they hunted on the farm, and they were married after John joined the Marines. The wedding took place in the Methodist Church parsonage on New Year’s Eve , 1942. They had a wartime honeymoon at the Occidental Hotel in Muskegon. John left for training . After the birth of Diana there were two trips to California. One trip was with Jean Pratt. Both women were going to see their husbands. Later, Jean and Mom became close friends, raising their families together in Eastmanville. Photographs show one Sunday with almost all of Minnie’s boys home, and John in uniform. The pictures, like so many other war photos, are taken on the farm with the ravine and bird bath in the background. During this time Karl and Minnie welcomed two little girls (sisters) into their family.

Minnie and mother’s sisters helped take care of Diana so Mary could join the war effort doing factory work. She was working at the Campbell Plant when an accident damaged her arm so that it had to be amputated. She is remembered here for her staunch independence and her will to keep living without much help. Then John was wounded on Iwo Jima in the1945. There were many trips home from Great Lakes Navel Hospital. Diana remembers picking her father up at the train station in Grand Rapids between operations to repair his jaw. Listening to their voices she would fall asleep under Great Grandma’s crazy quilt on the way home to their rented house in Eastmanville.

After wartime, the family would sometimes spend time up at Big Star Lake, renting a cabin and fishing. They bought a small cottage on the Grand River in Eastmanville and moved it up to the road, adding a room. Deborah was born in 1949 and Joanna in 1952. John taught and became Elementary Principal in the Coopersville . In 1955 they bought a house on Henry Street. Mary was a founding member of the O-Wash--Ta-Nong Chapter Questers, a national organization for the study of antiques and historical places. Many of her friends for the next 30 years were members of this group.

In 1961 John accepted a new teaching position and the family moved to Holland. John soon became Principal of the Jr. High School and remained in that position for 17 years. Mary joined the Christine Van Raalte Questers and later, when the museum acquired the Cappon house, she became a docent, giving many hours working and researching the house.

Mary and John’s interest in history influenced all three daughters. Family vacations were battlefields of the American Wars and the culture of the times through museums and historic houses.

The family built a cottage on Big Star Lake, the place where they had first shared weekends before and after the war. Many relatives remember Memorial and Labor Day family gatherings at the cottage.

However, it must be noted that it was in the crafts that Mary excelled. She always redecorated every house…several times. Wall paper came down and went up, new curtains were sewn by Mary, and many people were welcomed to her unique dinner parties. She was famous for her Danish Sandwiches. In her travels she ordered an open faced Danish sandwich. She came home and researched the different types. Only in winter, when she could use the garage for cold storage would she have a Danish Dinner, preparing days in advance the many types of open faced sandwiches. She decorated her house at Christmas and Easter with her hand made ornaments and eggs. After becoming interested in the Faberge Eggs from Russia, she figured out how to decorate goose eggs with braids and jewels. Many families still have their eggs that Aunt Mary gave them. She published one of the first books on egg decorating. Eggshells to Objects D’Art, 1968.

Her many collections included mustache cups, Beatrix Potter figurines, Irish belleek (Irish China), Danish Christmas plates, and family artifacts on her “junk wall.”

Travel took her and John to Europe first in 1967 to see relatives. Later she traveled with Margaret,her sister-in-law and Mickie Lamb, a close friend.

After the marriage of her daughters, and the arrival of grandchildren, Mary spent time teaching them crafts and showing them how to do German Paper Stars for Christmas. She delighted them with creative sandwich cutting and always was ready with the cookies. Grandma’s applesauce and strawberry jam were prize presents at Christmas and at visits.

Her active involvement with the Presbyterian Church included the cinnamon rolls she made for John’s college Sunday School classes and working on the church rummage sale for many years. John and Mary loved to sail on their boat, The Havorn. Sunday afternoons were sailing days with family and friends.

After the death of John in 1997, Mary contined her travels with friends, relatives and daughters. Most of the fun was in the research and preparation, so the trip would always include a file filled with clippings of the area.

Mary is remembered for her generosity, her independent and ‘tour de force’ spirit and her optimistic outlook on life. She would tell us, “It could be worse.”

Mary Magdelena Noe, age 86, of Holland died Tuesday September 22, 2009 at Hospice House of Holland.

Her family includes: daughters Diana Van Kolken, Deborah and Louis Schakel, Joanna and Michael Ludwig; five grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; brothers Maurice Schmidt, Fred (Norma) Schmidt, sisters Pokey (Roger) De Graaf, Shirlee (Harry) Hofstra; in-laws Carl (Marie) Noe, and Eloise (Larry) Schmidt, and Carol (Alex) Schmidt; and her son-in-law Paul Van Kolken; and many nieces, nephews and cousins. She is preceded in death brothers: Ralph , Laurence, Alex and Frank Schmidt and sisters Doris Mazurek and Evelyn Schmidt.

Services will be 3 P.M. Sunday October 11, 2009 at The First Presbyterian Church of Holland. Officiating will be the Rev. Linda Knieriemen. Following the service the family invites all to a reception at the church.