Obituary of Mary Fredricka Eshelman

Coffeyville - Mary F. (Mrs. Robert B.) Eshelman, 89, died Thursday (September 21, 2006) at Windsor Place in Coffeyville, KS, where she had been in residence since August 2004. Wake services, including the rosary, will be Monday, September 25, at 7:00 p.m. at Holy Name Catholic Church, Coffeyville. The Reverend Jerome Spexarth, pastor, will offer the Mass of Resurrection at 11:00 a.m. Tuesday, September 26, at Holy Name Catholic Church. Burial will follow at Calvary Cemetery. Mary was born to George H. and Mary Ellen (McNulty) Cillessen on November 18, 1916 at Coffeyville. She was baptized in Holy Name Church. She graduated from Field Kindley Memorial High School in 1935, attended Coffeyville Junior College, and worked for Columbia Drug Store and Hamlin Jewelry. Mary and Robert Bradford Eshelman married April 26, 1941. He predeceased her February 21, 1979. Mary cared for many children, especially her nieces and nephews, and local adults remember her caring for them when they were children. She helped many young couples get started in life. When her husband retired from Cooperative Refinery, they moved to Grand Lake of the Cherokees. There they built a lakefront home Bob was never to live in, dying just short of its completion. Mary continued to be a welcoming presence, dispensing loads of advice and material resources, and became know to friends and neighbors as "Aunt Mary." She was a member of the Altar Society at Holy Name Church, Coffeyville and St. Elizabeth Catholic Church, Grove, OK, where she also served as Eucharistic minister. Mary is survived by her sisters, Josephine (Mrs. Henry) Ruzicka, Oklahoma City, OK, Rita (Mrs. Floyd) Rinkenbaugh, Coffeyville, and Sister Mary Blaise Cillessen, O.S.B., Atchison, KS; her sister-in-law, Margaret (Mrs. Francis) Cillessen, Coffeyville; and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her brothers, H. Francis Cillessen, Coffeyville, and William Cillessen of the parental home; and sisters, Betty (Mrs. Jack) Farrell, Chicago, IL, and Jeroma (Mrs. Bernard) Boehm, Sulphur, LA. Memorials are suggested to Holy Name Catholic Church in Coffeyville, St. Elizabeth Catholic Church in Grove, OK, or Harry Hynes Memorial Hospice; contributions may be left with the funeral home or mailed c/o David W. Barnes Funeral Home, 306 North Cline Road, Coffeyville, Kansas 67337. Friends may call on Monday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the David W. Barnes Funeral Home in Coffeyville.