Mary Money Bags Alma Hanson Yorks

Mary Alma (Hanson) Yorks was born February 8, 1951 to Elmer and Adonna (Skochenski) Hanson at Barksdale AFB, LA. She was their 3rd child, as Marjorie Ann and Michael Alan welcomed their baby sister. Mary moved with the family to TX and to CO as their father was active duty in the US Air Force. The family moved to Wichita in 1953 to find employment for their father, who by then had been discharged from service, due to medical reasons. The family welcomed Maureen Alice just the next year. Mary's early school years through eighth grade were spent at Christ the King Catholic School, on Maple St. When Mary was 14, the mother of the family became ill and died [as it happened, on July 4, 1965]. Mary continued her education in Wichita at North High School, where she graduated in 1968.

She married Don W. Zimmerman. She had two children with Don; Don II (Donnie), and Melissa (Lisa). Sadly, that marriage did not last, and they divorced.

She met her second husband, Michael Yorks while still in Wichita. Soon they relocated to St. Louis, where Michael started a new job with McDonald Douglas and shortly later son Brian was born. A few years later, they welcomed a daughter, Kari into the family. Once again, the family moved to Long Island, NY where Michael started a new job with Grumman. They arrived there just in time for a major hurricane, and the family spent some 10 days or so “camping out” in the city.

About a year later, the family moved again new Seattle as Micheal had accepted a position with Boeing. Michael had been the primary breadwinner and Mary enjoyed being a stay-at-home mom, raising the kids and taking care of the house.

Mary was very involved in her family's life, doing many things for her children and community. Mary considered herself a lifetime Girl Scout, and participated in her kids' schools, scouting, and church events. She was a caring and giving person who loved children, and to help anyone in need. She treated other kids as if they were her own, taking them under her wing when they needed it. Even after her kids were grown, Mary continued to volunteer and support Girl Scouts and teachers. She didn't know anything else but caring for others.

Her husband Mike preceded Mary in death, with him passing May 1, 2000. By this time, both of their children were almost ready to leave home, with Brian working, and Kari a high school senior.

Mary remained in the Seattle area until May 2008, when she drove her new red Ford focus, packed with belongings to Wichita, to be near her brother and sisters. By this time, Mary was aware that she would need some surgery (she thought knee surgery), as she was having trouble getting around. But when she consulted the surgeon, she discovered she had major problems with her right hip, and would require hip surgery. Little did she know it would take 7 surgeries in all before that hip would be healed and she would again be able to navigate. The first hip surgery was in February 2009, and her hip was not fully healed until December 2011, and it was many more months before she no longer had follow-up Dr. visits and rehabilitation services.

Mary was recently in the process of gathering all her belongings and moving back to the Seattle, WA area. Her daughter Kari came to Wichita the end of March 2015, and began to box up things to be taken back to Washington. Her son Brian arrived on April 1, and he began to prepare the house to be either rented or sold. They had a weekend yard sale and sold some things, gave away some things, etc There was some minor house repairs, painting, and the like that needed to be done. The work was completed, and Mary and Brian took off on Thursday, April 23, for Seattle, taking some of Mary's things with them in her car, and driving. They were just 2 hours outside of Seattle when they had stopped for a bathroom break, when Mary collapsed. An ambulance was called, but help did not arrive for approximately 30 minutes due to their remote location. By the time help arrived, it was almost too late. It is suspected that Mary passed away due to a heart attack. She passed on Sunday, April 26 at 10:27am.