Mary Catherine Link

Mary Catherine Link, 103, of Elma, IA, formerly of Ionia, IA, died Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024, at Colonial Manor in Elma, IA.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024, at St. Boniface Catholic Church in Ionia with Rev. James Goerend celebrating the Mass. Interment will be held in St. Boniface Catholic Cemetery in Ionia.

Friends may greet the family from 9-11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024, at Hugeback – Johnson Funeral Home & Crematory in Nashua where there will be a 9 a.m. Rosary.

Mary Catherine (Meyer) Link was born May 20, 1920, in New Hampton, Iowa, the daughter of John J. Meyer and Mary Catherine (Meyers) Meyer. She received her education at the Catholic school in Ionia through the seventh grade and then transferred and graduated from the Ionia Public School in 1937. She attended Clarke College in Dubuque, IA, and Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, IA.

On Sept. 16, 1939, at St. Boniface Catholic Church in Ionia, she married her high school sweetheart, Louis Leander Link. Louis passed away Nov. 23, 2011. To this union 5 children were born. During the first year of their marriage they were the owner/operators of the Chickasaw Country Store. They lived in Charles City when Louis was drafted in 1944. The three oldest children, Jack, Jim, and Judy were four, three and two years old. Mary and the children moved to Ionia to be closer to extended family at this time.

Upon Louis’s return from the military they bought their farm in Chickasaw (July 1, 1946) where Marilou and Terry were born, and they lived there for 62 years. Mary was a stay-at-home mom/farmwife other than working at the Charles City livestock exchange in the office on Wednesdays( sale day) until 1965. She entered the workforce in 1968 as the office manager at the Abstract and Title Office in Charles City, continuing till 1983. This was a job she dearly loved.

In their later years they both became interested in flower gardening, developing beautiful gardens in their yard. They became snowbirds wintering in Port Charlotte, FL, for the next 25 years. Mary enjoyed cooking and was always eager to try new recipes. Their farm kitchen was frequently filled with neighbors dropping in for coffee and whatever homemade goodies were available and maybe staying for a game of euchre. This was repeated at the condo in Port Charlotte as they quickly made friends with other snowbirds. Dancing was an enjoyable pastime at the Moose in Charles City and the American Legion in Port Charlotte. When dog races and casinos became available in Sioux City and Dubuque they found another activity they enjoyed with friends.

In the fall of 2007, they moved to the Afton Oaks assisted living in Elma. They were blessed to celebrate 72 wedding anniversaries. Mary changed her long-distance mode of transportation from cars to planes in her 90s, visiting her families in Virginia, Florida, South Carolina, and Arizona. Mary continued to live at Afton Oaks until 2021 when she had a stroke that caused her to enter the Colonial Manor Nursing Home.

Mary is survived by her five children: John (Kay) Link of Mason Neck, VA, Jim Link of Ionia, IA, Judith Chenoweth of Fitchburg, WI, Marilou (Dan) Roberts of Clemson, SC, Terence (Ellen) of Pembroke Pines, FL; 16 grandchildren and four step grandchildren; 27 great grandchildren and 10 step great grandchildren; four great great grandchildren; several nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her husband Louis, her parents J. J. and Mary; her brothers John (Jack) Meyer and Lauren Meyer; one son-in-law, Craig Chenoweth and one daughter-in-law, Sandra Link.