Mary A. Hartung

Mary Jean Anderson Hartung, age 92 ½, passed away on 22 September 2022 in Lansing, Michigan. Mary was born on 23 February 1930 in Muskegon, MI, the eldest of the four children of Clara Mildred Sullivan Anderson and Clifford Herman Anderson. Mary graduated from Shelby High School in 1947 and went on to receive a BA from Michigan State University (Michigan State College at that time) in 1954. She raised money to pay for college by working as a law office secretary. After college, she continued her education, graduating from the University of Michigan Law School in 1957 at a time when women made up under 2% of students.

Mary was married to Richard “Dick” Walter Hartung on 05 October 1957 in Shelby, MI. In 1960, Mary and Dick moved to Madison, WI, where Mary helped care for her nieces Mary Ruth and Barbara Ann and became a mother to two children of her own. Mary and Dick then spent several years in Geneva, Switzerland, where Dick worked on particle physics at CERN while Mary raised her children and volunteered extensively with the American Church and library.

In 1978, the family moved to East Lansing, MI. After some part-time and volunteer work, Mary joined the law firm of Willingham & Coté, first in the word processing group, and then as a paralegal in estate law. She retired from law in 2000 at age 70. After retirement, she volunteered with Christian Services and tutored English as a Second Language.

Mary became an active member of Edgewood United Church in 1978. Over the next four decades at Edgewood, she served on the hunger and prison task forces, the board of church in society, and traveled on mission trips to the Philippines, Nicaragua, and Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

Mary’s immediate and extended family meant everything to her. Mary provided care to her husband during his 25-year battle with Parkinson’s Disease. She was an avid tennis player, tennis fan, and bicyclist.

Mary is survived by her daughter Lin (Henry) Chambers of Hampton, VA, son Walter Hartung of East Lansing, granddaughter Lauren Chambers of Berkeley, CA, siblings-in-law Homer and Virginia Hartung, 16 nieces and nephews, and numerous grand- and great-grand-nieces and -nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, and her siblings Clifford Anderson Jr, Elinor Verschueren, and Ruth Wright; her siblings-in-law Monica Anderson, Larry Wright, Lin Hartung, and Victor Hartung; two nephews, Larry Wright Jr and Richard Hartung; and her great-grand-nephew Landon Wright.

Health problems made Mary’s life increasingly difficult in her final years. She was nevertheless able to travel to New Haven, CT in 2017 at age 87, fulfilling her wish to see her granddaughter’s college graduation. Her family owes an enormous debt of gratitude to the many people who provided care and nursing to allow Mary to stay in her home as long as she did, and to the staff at Hospice of Lansing’s Stoneleigh Residence who provided a caring and restful environment for Mary’s final months. The family would like to especially thank Dena Newkirk for providing dedicated care for Mary’s changing needs over more than a decade.

A memorial service will be held on Sunday 02 October 2022 at 3 pm at Edgewood United Church in East Lansing. Gorsline Runciman Funeral Home is providing arrangements. Mary did her best to support her church and she contributed to dozens of charitable organizations that she felt were working to promote justice, relieve poverty and suffering, and make the world a better place. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Edgewood United Church or charitable organizations working toward the betterment of the human condition.