Mary (Doyle) Dillingham, aged 88, very beloved wife, mother, grandmother and sister, died on March 1, 2024 at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, MN.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11:00 AM with a time of gathering from 10:00 – 11:00 AM on Tuesday, March 12, 2024 at St. Catherine Catholic Church of Spring Lake, 4500 220th St E, Prior Lake, MN 55372. Father George Grafski will preside.
Mary will be laid to rest at Fort Snelling National Cemetery, Minneapolis.
Mary was born on January 12, 1936 to Francis and Elizabeth (Heddle) Doyle. Raised on the family farm in Cedar Lake Township with three sisters and one brother, she attended New Prague Schools and attended the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.
Mary worked in Yellowstone National Park for several summers and there she met her future husband, Bill Dillingham – a fellow Yellowstone employee and they fell in love. Bill and Mary wed on March 22, 1958 in Fort Gordon, GA. Once Bill was discharged from the US Army, they moved back to Minnesota, building a home on the family farm raising 3 children – Beth, John and Ann – who followed in their mother’s footsteps attending New Prague Schools.
Mary and Bill enjoyed camping and traveled the state of Minnesota, returned to Yellowstone Park and the mountains of the west. They wintered in Texas, Arizona and Florida before looking for a more permanent winter location. They purchased a second home and spent many winters in Fort Myers, FL making many close friends in the Bermuda Club condominiums. They had many visitors every winter serving as a base for their children and grandchildren (and their friends) to go to the beach and attend Twins spring training games.
Mary is survived by her husband of 65 years, Bill; children Beth (Rick) Kathan, John (Mitzi) Dillingham and Ann (Scott) Thulien; grandchildren, Richard (Megan) Kathan, Thomas (Mariah) Kathan, Mary (Eric) Gunderson, Jake, Megan and Matt Donath, Maddie and Luc Dillingham; 3 great-grandchildren, Connor, Sawyer and Ellie; beloved sisters Frances (d. Dennis) Gonyea and Catherine (d. John) Pipkorn; sister-in-law, Kathleen Doyle; 12 nieces and nephews.
She is preceded in death by her parents Francis and Elizabeth Doyle; sister Bridget; brother, Steven and granddaughter Emily.
