Mary E. Wienandt

YELM, Wash. - Mary E. Wienandt, 68, of Rainier, died on Aug. 5, 2016, at Easthaven Villa in Yelm. She was under hospice care in the facility. She had been a patient in Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma from July 5, 2016, until Aug. 4, 2016. She had been battling colorectal cancer since August 2012.

She was born on Jan. 12, 1948, in Saginaw, Mich. She was the youngest of seven children of Walter F. Eggert and Ruth D. (Droegemueller) Eggert.

She graduated from high school in Fremont, Neb., in 1966. She attended Concordia College, St. Paul, Minn., for two years and graduated from Concordia College, River Forest, Ill., in 1970.

She married Arthur J. Wienandt on Aug. 2, 1970, in Monroeville, Ind. The couple had met at Concordia College. They moved to the St. Louis area, where she taught in a Lutheran parochial school for two years. Her husband was attending Concordia Seminary in St. Louis.

After her husband graduated from seminary, the couple moved to Mississippi, where she taught in several local public school systems. While in Mississippi, she earned a master's degree in music education from the University of Mississippi. The couple's two sons were born in Mississippi. Nathan was born in 1978 and Michael was born in 1980.

In November 1987, her husband entered active duty as an Army chaplain at Fort Stewart, Ga. She taught in the Hinesville, Ga., public school system for several years.

Subsequently, the couple was stationed in Italy; Fort Riley, Kan.; Schofield Barracks, Hawaii; Fort Polk, La.; and finally Fort Lewis, Wash. At these various Army posts, she often served as a church organist/musician and/or a choir director. Her husband retired from active duty on July 31, 2007.

She lived with her husband in Rainier from July 2005 until her death.

She is survived by her immediate family, her husband, Art of Rainier; her older son, Maj. Nathan A. Wienandt, of Silver Spring, Md.; and her younger son, Michael J. Wienandt, of Oxford, Miss. She is also survived by her six older siblings, Carol Kearns, of Alexandria, Va.; Anita Werling, of Macomb, Ill.; Joanne Swenson, of Mishawaka, Ind.; Dr. David Eggert, of Jackson, Mich.; James Eggert, of St. Joseph, Mich.; and John Eggert, of St. Paul.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 18, at the Yorgensen-Meloan-Londeen Funeral Chapel, 1616 Poyntz Ave., Manhattan, Kansas, with Rev. Dr. Keith Wiens officiating. Burial will follow in the Sunrise Cemetery in Manhattan.

The family will receive friends from 10 a.m. Thursday until the service time at the funeral home.

Online condolences may be left for the family through the funeral home website at ymlfuneralhome.com.

Memorials can be sent to the Fisher House at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Fisher Houses at military installations offer free lodging to family members who are visiting their military member who is receiving medical care at the installation. Memorials may be mailed to: JBLM Fisher House, 9999 Wilson Ave., Joint Base Lewis-McChord, WA 98433.