Mary Catherine Eirschele

Mary Catherine Eirschele, a 1966 graduate of John Curtis Christian School, passed away May 31, 2024. She was 78. Mary lived a simple and pure life. She was reclusive and seldom stepped out of her front door in Metairie. She never owned or wanted a mobile phone. She used a rotary dial phone until AT&T stopped supporting them. When Mary reluctantly switched to a pushbutton phone, it was the old handset-on-cradle style in harvest gold. Mary never accessed the internet, and never sent or received an email. She didn’t drive, never married, and her only window to the world was TV. She loved watching baseball and HGTV. She loved Elvis. And she was happy with her life, lived on her terms, solo.

Perhaps because her mind was uncluttered, she was a savant. If you asked Mary when the aging roof was installed on her house, she could recite the year, month, and day. She liked ice cream, Pop Tarts, Ritz crackers, Hershey’s Kisses, and diet Coke and insisted on having nearly warehouse-sized quantities on hand. Her living room sofa was the larder. Her very specific Christmas wishes were hard for Santa to fill. Typically, Mary asked for something like a yellow sweater with blue flowers and pink bunnies, long sleeves, in velvet, size XL though a women’s medium would fit. Rain and thunder scared her, but she nevertheless insisted on living alone.

Mary was preceded in death by her parents, Gerald Wayne Eirschele and Remiga Zimmermann Eirschele, as well as her uncle, Maurice J. Zimmermann. She is survived by a 3rd cousin, Phil Sprick, who looked after her simple wants and needs for 20 years. If Mary were authoring this obituary, she would give special thanks to a few of the angels in her life. Ron O’Rorke delivered groceries and helped with household tasks for many years. Gail Wilson and Mary Watts of Senior Helpers Home Care visited Mary regularly for the last several months of her life, attending to her physical needs. Rhonda Gattuso with the Jefferson Counsel on Aging called Mary often and patiently listened to her repetitive stories about the head cold she had while in grammar school.

In keeping with Mary’s wishes, a brief and simple service will be held at Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home at 10:30AM on Monday, June 17. Interment and a Catholic blessing will follow at Greenwood Cemetery at 11:30AM. Members of John Curtis Class of 1966 and others who knew Mary are invited to attend.