Mary Georgia Stary Otto

Mary Georgia (Stary) Otto, 96, of Victoria passed away Monday, January 26, 2015. She was born on April 24, 1918, in Moulton to the late Matej and Kristina Vavra Stary. She married Richard Joseph Otto at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Inez on October 20, 1936. He passed away in February 1994.

Mary was a multi-talented person, a mother, homemaker, farmer, rancher, helpmate to her husband in their car-repair-garage business for 36 years. She was very handy with needle and thread, teaching her daughters to sew, and did some nice needlework in her earlier years. Her love of the outdoors put handwork on hold for a time in her life. She canned vegetables at a young age and continued canning well into her 70’s and 80’s. Her and her husband’s gardens were prolific and they always had a garden in each season.

There usually was a corn field, potato patch, cabbage patch and many more vegetables. They always had a patch of swiss chard planted for their chickens and it paid off in fresh eggs. She fed and cared for her cows (after her husband’s death) and well into her 90’s when her health began to slowly decline. Mary loved the outdoors and would choose working outdoors when she could, working in her yard, garden and flower beds. At one time she grew cockscomb flowers from the old-country with flower heads as large as a bucket. Her green thumb rarely disappointed her – what she planted usually grew. Her gorgeous cockscombs could never be replicated.

Mary spoke the Czech language fluently even to the age of 95, and still some at 96.

Mary was the second eldest of the Stary Children. The oldest was her brother Matej “Mike” Stary, followed by Mary, then Christine, Jim, Agnes, Vladik, Edwin and Gladys.

Mary (Mama) had a love of the farm from childhood to the last day of her life on earth. She grew up on the farm, lost her daddy at the age of 11 years, and then was tossed into sudden adulthood, bearing the loss of a childhood, which she along with her older brother then helped to raise their brothers and sisters.

Those years set the rest of her life in motion. She worked hard all her life – and at this young age – did the work of adults. She could put the harnesses on their two horses “Bill” and “Prince” and go to work in the field, picked cotton, raised chickens, raised and butchered pigs, raised cattle, milked cows, raised guineas, turkeys, gardened, canned vegetables, fruits, and anything they could grow, they did.

Her childhood days made her a self-taught – do-it-yourselfer for the rest of her life, and then instilled those same skills in her children after she married and had a family. (although some skills we never could do just as well as she did – like “very finely” cutting cabbage for slaw and making sauerkraut well into her 80’s with son Jimmy)

Mary had a memory that left the rest of us in awe for the amount of education she had. She learned by doing, and if she didn’t know how to do something, she had the attitude that she could do it, and most of the time she did just that. She sewed for herself and her children, and her mother and mother-in-law. If they couldn’t get out to shop for clothes, I can still remember when she took my grandmother’s dress apart to use as a pattern and made them dresses that would fit. And later in life she gave her girls home permanents, was a good down-home, old fashioned cook, and enjoyed being at home. She was happy at home in the home she and her husband designed and built (with the help of two carpenters), and it was difficult to get her to go visit anywhere. She was a rare – stay-at-home type of person in her most familiar surroundings. The work was never done, so she kept at it with something new to do all the time. She also helped daddy in his repair-garage. She could sometimes tell you what the problem was with the car, in the blink of an eye.

Mary is survived by her three children and their families: Jo Ann Marie Swanson and husband John of Victoria, Betty Jane (McMahon) Roeder and husband Frank of Victoria, and son, Jimmy Ray Otto and wife Joette of Inez; grandchildren, Linda Swanson Ledwig and husband Jonathan of Victoria, Mary Swanson Duggan and husband Chris of Houston, Eric M. Swanson and wife Becky of Houston, Mark McMahon and wife Janet of Hallsville, Sandra McMahon Taylor and husband Justin of Plano, and Melanie Otto Newell and husband Nathan of Pearland; great-grandchildren, Megan Ledwig Newman and husband Casey of Victoria, Stephanie Ledwig of Victoria, Owen Duggan, Abigail Duggan, Jake Duggan all of Houston; Maya Newell, Madeline Newell, Zoey Newell all of Pearland; Ryan McMahon, Brodie McMahon both of Hallsville, Colby Patton, Channing Patton, both of Austin; great-great-grandchild, Casen Newman of Victoria. Mary is also survived by her sister, Agnes Stary Otto of Inez, and her brother, Edwin Stary of Victoria.

Mary is preceded in death by her husband, her parents, her sisters, Christine Stary Blevins, and Gladys Stary Leita, and well as her brothers, Matej “Mike” Stary, Jim Stary, and Vladik “Dick” Stary.

A visitation will be held on Wednesday, January 28, 2015 from 6 to 8 pm with a Rosary to begin at 7 pm with Deacon Jim Koenig officiating at Rosewood Funeral Chapel. Funeral Mass will be held at 2 pm on Thursday, January 29, 2015 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church with the Rev. Dominic Antwi Bosiako officiating. Burial will follow at the Memory Gardens Cemetery.

Pallbearers will be Mark McMahon, Colby Patton, Channing Patton, Eric Swanson, Jonathan Ledwig, and Casey Newman.

Honorary pallbearers will be all grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great-great-grandchildren, and nieces and nephews, Frank Roeder, Chris Duggan and John Swanson.

Memorial donations may be made to St. Mary’s Catholic Church Building Fund, Hospice of South Texas, Dover House or to the charity of your choice.

Words of comfort may be shared at www.rosewoodfuneralchapel.com.