Mary Ann Bendt, 78, Luverne, died Friday, Nov. 6, 2015, at the Dougherty House Hospice Cottage in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
A funeral service was Wednesday, Oct. 11, at St. Catherine Catholic Church in Luverne with burial at Maplewood Cemetery in Luverne.
Mary Toms was born July 21, 1937, to Elmer and Florence (Floerchinger) Toms in Sioux Falls. She was raised in Luverne with Kenneth “Tiny” and Lucille Toms and graduated from Luverne High School in 1956.
On Sept. 1, 1956, she married Chester “Chet” Bendt at St. Catherine Catholic Church in Luverne. They moved to Sioux Falls in 1978 where they owned and operated The OK Shoe Repair and Mary’s Mending. They returned to Luverne in the fall of 2005.
Mary was a member of St. Catherine Catholic Church in Luverne. She enjoyed baking, crocheting, sewing, playing cards and her pets.
She is survived by four children, Kathy (Lee) Hamann, Christy (Jerry) Reisch, and Chester Bendt Jr., all of Luverne; David (Doreen) Bendt, Madison, South Dakota; nine grandchildren, Beth (Brian) Loosbrock, Matt (Moe) Hamann, Paul Hamann, Zach (Theresa) Bendt, Danny Bendt, Jesse (Cori) Reisch, Stephanie (Byron) Gilliland, Natalie Reisch and Abby Reisch; ten great-grandchildren; a brother, Bill (Judy) Toms, Johnston, Iowa; and two sisters, Carol Mulder, Canton, South Dakota, and Sharon (Dennis) Rypkema, West Point, Georgia.
Mary was preceded in death by her parents, Elmer and Florence Toms; Tiny and Lucille Toms; her husband, Chet Bendt, on Oct. 25, 2013; and a brother, Dennis Toms.
Memorials may be directed to the American Lung Association or the Dougherty Hospice House in Sioux Falls.
Arrangements were by Dingmann Funeral Home of Luverne, dingmannandsons.com.
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