Mary Louise Somers

April 8, 1924 - February 22, 2022

Mary Somers passed away on February 22 in Brentwood, California, after a brief illness. She lived a long and eventful life, full of love and family.

Mary was born in South Bend, Indiana, to Leroy Kindig and Rebecca Davidson Kindig. Shortly after her birth, the family moved to Rochester, Indiana to become farmers. Mary grew up on the farm, leading to a life-long love of gardening. Mary's plans to attend Purdue University after graduation from high school were dashed by the U.S. entry into World War II. She answered an advertisement by the Army Air Forces in Dayton, Ohio, to attend stenographer school and work in support of the war effort. While traveling via train to Dayton, a handsome young Marine offered to open her window so she could wave to her family. That's how she met and fell in love with George Somers, the man she married in 1946. They were together through thick and thin until his death in 2002.

Mary and George settled in Dayton, Ohio, and soon started a family with the births of son Steven and daughter Peggy. George's work as a civilian Air Force employee moved the family to Topeka, Kansas, then Mobile, Alabama (where son Charles was born), and finally to Sacramento, California in 1965. Mary lived in her Fair Oaks, California home for almost 50 years. She was especially proud of her large rose garden, which she tended with expert care. She loved to entertain; her home was always open to family and friends. She also loved to snow ski at Lake Tahoe, and maintained a second home there for many years.

Mary moved to Tucson, Arizona in 2014 to be near daughter Peggy. She returned to California in 2021 to be close to her son Charles. Her final resting place will be at Mount Vernon Mortuary in Fair Oaks, California, next to her beloved George.

Mary was a very active person throughout her long life. She volunteered her considerable energy to her church and her community. She was a long-time member of Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church, where she went on missions to restore landscaping at Sheldon Jackson College in Sitka, Alaska, worked with disadvantaged youths in Mexico, taught English to children and adults in Romania, helped rebuild a church in Russia, assisted in disaster relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana and Mississippi, worked at an orphanage in Brazil, and sang in the church choir. When she moved to Tucson, she joined the Christ Presbyterian Church and sang in the choir for five more years, well into her 90s.

Mary always wanted to get the college degree that was not a possibility after the war. After all three of her children graduated from college, she went back to school and graduated from Sacramento State University in 1990. She went on to earn her real estate broker's license, and opened her own rental property management business.

Mary will be missed by her large extended family, including three children, eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. She was a force of nature, and it is hard to believe that she is not with us anymore.

Mary was predeceased by her husband, George Earl Somers, her mother and father, Leroy Kindig and Rebecca Davidson Kindig, and her brother, Richard Kindig. Mary is survived by her three children, Steven Somers, Peggy (Somers) Saenz and Charles Somers, and spouses Louie Saenz and Jeanette Somers. Her grandchildren are Melissa Vera, Brett Somers, Lucas England, Courtney Somers, Maria Saenz, Cameron Somers, Alexis Somers and Chase Somers. Her great-grandchildren are Lucas Andy England and Joaquin Vera.

Mary will be honored at a Celebration of Life at Mount Vernon Memorial Park on Saturday April 9 at 12 noon, to be followed by internment at 1 p.m.