Mary Perry

With great sadness we share the passing of Mary Patricia Hawkins Perry; wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, aunt and dear friend, who died on August 4th, 2025. She died at home with a summer evening outside her window and family at her side.

Mary was born May 8,1929 at St. Mary's Hospital in Rochester, MN, the last of the six children of Susan Marion Bassette Hawkins and Patrick James Hawkins. She grew up on the family farm near Pine Island, MN, homesteaded in 1866, which remains in the Hawkins family. She attended District 7, a one-room schoolhouse near her family home, then Pine Island High School. She earned her A. A. degree in Medical Secretarial Study from Rochester Community College in 1949. She was first employed as a medical secretary at the Mayo Clinic, and in 1950, moved to Big Spring, TX to work at the Big Spring Clinic and help set up their patient record system in the format used by Mayo Clinic.

She met William Hart Perry (Bill) of Big Spring, TX, and prior to his departure for the Korean War, they became engaged. Mary moved back to Rochester, MN and worked again at Mayo Clinic until Bill returned from the war. On May 25,1953 they were married at St. Francis Catholic Church in Rochester, MN.

Mary left employment at Mayo Clinic to raise six children. She was a creative person and very dedicated to their education. A big endeavor each year was the Olmsted County Fair and having each child prepare multiple exhibits. In 1967, she became a co-owner with Bill of T.E.C. Industrial, Inc. where she worked in front desk sales and all aspects of the business office. The business expanded locations, and for ten years she and Bill ran a branch office in Red Wing, MN. Her work ethic kept her busy at T.E.C. well into her 70's before she officially retired. Mary was a founding member of a Rochester book club in which she remained active for 30+ years. She was an avid reader and rarely sat down without a book in her hands. In her retirement, Mary enjoyed traveling with Bill and family, birding, gardening, quilting, baking and watercolor painting. She always found beauty in nature and her desire to learn never ceased.

Mary is survived by her husband, Bill, her children: Maryrose Perry Keller, Constance Perry (Michael Pesch), James (Sheila Russell Perry), Robert (Denise Peterson-Perry), Barbara Perry (Michael Arnold); 12 grandchildren: Ian Keller-Heikkila (Kelly), Amber Keller Hynes (Casey), Eva Pesch (Wade Hauser), Elise Pesch (Evan Douglas), Madeleine Pesch (Ben Weideman), Megan Perry Payne (John), Nathan Perry (Megan Kleven) Rachel Perry Goodberlet (Karl), Anna Perry, Caitlin Perry Hadley (Matt), Claire Perry Larson (Mitchell), Nolan Perry Arnold (Berit Bringsjord); nineteen great-grandchildren: Kaisa, Julian, Jasper, Amara, William, Rowan and Patrick Keller-Heikkila; Miles and Reid Hauser; Shea Douglas; Fia and Finn Payne; Ingrid, Harrison, Maude and Wallace Goodberlet; George and Henry Larson; and Hannah Hadley, and many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her daughter, Julia Susan Perry, son-in-law, Michael Keller, siblings James Hawkins, Alice Rose Hawkins LaPlant, John Hawkins, William Hawkins and Laurence Hawkins.

Mary will be buried next to her daughter in rural Pine Island, MN at the cemetery of St. Michael's Catholic church, where she was baptized, received first communion and was confirmed. The cemetery is located across from the grounds of the one-room schoolhouse she attended as a child. Her great-grandmother, who brought her family over from Ireland in the 1850s, is buried in the same cemetery, along with Mary's grandparents, parents and four of her siblings.

A funeral mass will be held at 10:30 am on Wednesday, August 13, 2025,  Co Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist (11 4th Ave SW, Rochester, MN 55902) with a visitation one hour prior to the service at the church.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to either The Reading Center of Rochester, MN, Catholic Charities of SE MN, or a charity of your choice.