Mary Cordelia Wunnicke passed away peacefully at home Tuesday evening, November 22,2011, surrounded by her loving family. Mary Coyle was born April 27, 1927, on the Loreto Ridge, the second child and daughter of Martin and Marie (Dunn) Coyle. Mary was a devoted wife, mother and friend to many. Mary was Irish through and through and lived her life as a devout catholic and a compassionate person. She grew up on the Loreto Ridge and in Spring Green often staying with her sister, Bette, at the farm and home of her mother, Marie’s parents, Pete and Lizzy Dunn. Mary spoke throughout her life of her childhood and the adventures and misadventures with a little grandma from Ireland who had migrated to this country from England after working in a cotton or woolen mill. Mary got up in the morning and milked cows with her uncle John and rode in the buggy with her sister Bette to visit her grandmother’s friends in Spring Green. Mary had a special relationship with her sister Bette. She raised such a big fuss when Bette started school that her parents kept Bette at  home for a year so she and Mary could go through all twelve grades together, which they did. Mary worked at many things in her life and devoted her all to any task she undertook whether it was helping a calf get started or giving a teaspoon of brandy to a new born pig in the cold winter or driving school bus or learning a new computer application at the University of Wisconsin-Richland, where she worked after retiring from dairy farming. Mary wrote with a beautiful hand and during the war years she was selected to go to Washington, DC and work as a secretary taking shorthand for the United States
Armed Forces Institute. She recounted many times her experiences in Washington, especially the day the love of her life and future husband, Gene Wunnicke, a pilot in the Air Force, flew into Washington and took her out for a date. Mary married Gene Wunnicke on September 7, 1946 and they lived in Madison or close to Madison while Gene completed his degree from the University. They moved to Wyoming shortly after, returning to Wisconsin after three years and after a couple of years settled at their home in Bear Valley where Gene and Mary spent most of their married life together and raised their family. Mary never met a stranger and formed lasting friendships with many people: students who rode on her bus, friends of her children, neighbors, spouses of her sisters, anyone who crossed her path she tried to engage and talk with. Mary was very generous in spirit and she and Gene raised several foster children, sometimes for years. There was always a place at the table at Gene and Mary’s house for whomever stopped by; and many did. Friendship and family were the only wealth Mary ever sought and she shared this were her lifetime partner, Gene. Mary will be sadly missed and always cherished by her family and friends. She wore the beautiful name her parents had given to her well. Mary is preceded in death by her parents,
Martin and Marie Coyle, and her husband, Gene. She is survived by her sisters and brother: Bette (Rex) Boss, Pat (Sandy) Coyle, Kathleen (Harlan) Murphy, Sharon (Wendell) Murphy, and Colleen (Tom) Walsh. Her children: Michael and wife, Andrea Kaiser; Peggy Ready and husband Kim; Kathleen Schoen and husband David. Her
grandchildren include Aaron Wunnicke and wife, Chelsea; Claire and her husband Antonio Avila Rivas; Brendan Wunnicke; Daniel Ready; Julia and Emma Schoen; and also a special foster son, Tom Haas.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 AM, on Saturday, November 26, 2011 at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, Loreto Ridge. Fr. Larry Bowens will officiate, with burial in the St. Kilians Catholic Cemetery.  Visitation will be at held on Friday, November 25, 2011 from 4 PM – 8PM at St. Patrick’s and on Saturday from 10 AM until time of Mass.  The Richardson-Stafford Funeral Home in Spring Green is assisting the family with arrangements.