She was born in Terre Haute on September 28, 1931 to James and Lula Gallion.
The youngest of six siblings, Mary Ruth arrived late in a family with some children already grown and out on their own. Lula Gallion said her youngest daughter was a “gift from God,” and she truly was. To know Mary Ruth was to love her.
She grew up in a tiny, two-bedroom house on North 24th Street. Mary Ruth
graduated from Gerstmeyer High School in 1949. While at school, she dated and fell in love with David L. Mier. The two sweethearts married in 1952 and had three children. They lived on Park and Hulman streets, then in a house on South 22nd Street for 50 years. In 2020 the couple moved to Westminster Village.
Mary Ruth’s work life began at age 14, when she took the bus to work at a drug store in Twelve Points. After raising her children she worked as a title researcher, then as a teller at Indiana State Bank (Old National Bank), mostly at the Riley and Honey Creek branches. She worshiped at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church.
Mary Ruth loved to play bridge, read, crochet and spend time with friends and family. The beautiful afghans she crafted grace the homes of family and others.
Mary Ruth belonged to the Vigo County Honey Creek Homemaker Extension Club and treasured the life-long friendships she forged there.
After moving to Westminster Village in 2020, Mary Ruth found a welcoming
community and widened her circle of dear friends. She won the hearts of nurses and dining-room staff with her sweet, lovely nature. Liberal with kisses and hugs, Mary Ruth could talk to anyone with ease. People loved to chat with Mary Ruth. Sometimes family told her not to make eye contact with people at the grocery store because a quick trip would turn into a long visit with friends or neighbors she ran into there.
Mary Ruth cherished her family and was extremely proud of her children and grand-children (grand-dogs too!). She was a favorite aunt to her nieces and nephews.
Mary Ruth is survived by her daughter Karen (Crispin), of Terre Haute; daughter Elizabethe (Brown) and husband Ed, of Seattle, and son David J. Mier and wife Angela, of Bloomington, Ill. She also is survived by her beloved grandchildren: Sarah Frazier and fiancé Jeannette Bell, of St. Louis, Mo.; Thomas Mier and wife Charlene, of Chicago; Benedict Mier and wife Victoria, of Nashville, Tenn.; John Mier, of Bloomington, Ill.; Eliot Crispin, of West Lafayette; Cole Crispin, of Terre Haute, and Matthew Mier, of Nashville, Tenn. She also is survived by her nieces Marylou Garloch and husband Dale, of Terre Haute; Ruth McCullough and husband Mike, of Terre Haute; Monica Zimmerman and husband Chuck, of Terre
Haute; Harriet Macknicki, of Coachella, Calif.; Jean Ann Humphries and husband Alan of Little Rock, Ark., and nephews Brent Mier, of Terre Haute; James Gallion, of Evansville, and John Edgar Gallion and wife Penny, of Terre Haute, as well as other extended family.
Thanks to all the care-givers at Westminster Village; Visiting Nurse Association and Hospice of the Wabash Valley; Hands That Serve and Union Hospital, who served Mary Ruth. They made her last years a joy and her death easier to bear.
Visitation is from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, March 28 at Roselawn Funeral Home and Memorial Garden, with service following at 1 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to 14th & Chestnut Community Center Donate Now! - 14th and Chestnut Community Center (weebly.com) or Indiana Special Olympics Donate | Special Olympics.
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