Obituary for Mary Catherine (Thiessen) Codette

Mary Catherine Codette, 86, of New London, passed away peacefully surrounded by her family on November 19. Family and friends are invited to remember and celebrate Mary’s life with visitation beginning at 9:30 a.m., Saturday, November 25, at Our Lady of the Lakes Catholic Church, 680 153rd Ave NE, Spicer, MN, with a Mass of Christian Burial. To be 11:00 am. Burial will be in the church cemetery. Funeral arrangements are being made with Harvey Anderson Funeral Home in Willmar. www.hafh.org.

Mary was born in Morton, January 14, 1937, to Leo and Veronica (Thiessen) Wagner. She graduated from Morton High School. In 1955, she married Roger Codet and to this marriage they had five children. They made their home in Redwood Falls for 39 years before moving to their home on Lake Andrew (New London) in 1992.

While living in Redwood Falls, Mary worked as a kindergarten aide at Red Gray Elementary School for eleven years. While her children were leaving home and pursuing their careers, Mary decided to pursue her passion for caring for and teaching young children. As a mother and grandmother, she attended Southwest State University and earned a degree in elementary education in 1986. Mary taught elementary school in Bellevue for ten years. After retirement, she continued her work as a substitute teacher in the New London Spicer School District for several years. She was a pioneer in bringing the University of Minnesota’s Monarch Butterfly Education Program into elementary school classrooms.

In her family’s early years, she devoted many hours to her children as she led Girl and Boy Scout troops, taught religious education, and family planning for memorable family camping and road trips throughout the United States. As she settled into her retirement life on Lake Andrew, Mary and Roger joined Our Lady of the Lakes Catholic Church and served in various ministries over the years. Mary loved living on the lake and being outdoors; Her hobbies included gardening, swimming, reading, knitting, sewing, bird feeding, and annual snowmobiling trips to West Yellowstone. She often made visits to GlenOaks Nursing Home in New London, bringing fruit and bananas to the residents; She became known as the “Banana Lady.”

Her family was very important to her, and she cherished the time she spent with them. Survivors include her husband, Roger, their five children: Paula (Mark) Pearson, Deborah Stanton, Mark (Becky) Coudit, Thomas (Sue) Coudit, Charles (Joan) Coudit, eleven grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.

Mary was preceded in death by her parents, her brothers James Wagner and Maurice Wagner, and her sisters Doreen Alexander and Arliss Ricks.

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    (tags to translate) Harvey Anderson & Johnson Funeral Home