Mary Ellen (nee: Delmater) Deming, 90, passed away Friday at the Hospice House in Pleasant Prairie. She was born in Racine Feb. 17, 1926, daughter of the late William and Isabelle (Nee: Butterfield) Delmater.
Mary Ellen was a 1944 graduate of St. Catherine’s High School. She furthered her education and graduated from UW Madison. While in college she met her husband to be, Richard Deming and were united in marriage in June of 1952 following graduation. She was employed by The Johnson Foundation for the last 20 years of her career, which she found to be fascinating and intellectually stimulating, working on the “Conversations from Wingspread”. She was a member of St. Richard Catholic Church. Known affectionately by her friends as “Del”, Mary Ellen was an especially keen bridge player, loved tackling the New York Times crossword puzzle, reading, learning, traveling extensively. She relished living as a family in Beirut, Casablanca and Manila. She loved her family and her wide group of friends. Mary Ellen was loved dearly and will be sadly missed.
Surviving are her children, Martha Deming of Racine; Peter Deming of New York/ Los Angeles; Charlie (Roseanne Hefko) Deming of Madison, WI; 3 grandchildren, Kate Deming, Jasper (Jacquie Skopinski) Hefko and Dinah (Chad) Chamberlain; sister-in-law, Rita Delmater, nieces, nephews other relatives and many dear friends. In addition to her parents she also was preceded in death by her husband Richard, granddaughter, Polly Hefko, brother William and her sister, Grace Zedler.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Thursday at 11 a.m. at St. Richard Catholic Church, 1503 Grand Ave. with Rev. Allen Bratkowski officiating. Entombment will follow at Calvary Crypts. Relatives and friends are welcome to meet with the family for visitation on Wednesday, from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. at the funeral home, and on Thursday from 10:30 a.m. until time of Mass at the church. Memorials to St. Richard Catholic Church have been suggested by the family.
A very special thank you to her niece and extra special caregiver, Ellen Beere, and the staff at Hospice House for their loving and compassionate care given to Mary Ellen.
