Mary Elizabeth Lammerding Wempe

Mary Elizabeth Lammerding Wempe, 94, of Manhattan, KS, passed away June 21, 2022 at Via Christi in Manhattan. A rosary vigil service will be held at 6:30 p.m., Sunday, July 3, at St. Gregory's Catholic Church in Marysville. A funeral service will be held at 10 a.m., Monday, July 4, at St. Gregory's Catholic Church. Burial will be in the St. Gregory's Catholic Cemetery. Mary was the last remaining child from the marriage of Joseph and Maria Lammerding, who immigrated to Marysville from their respective family homes in Northwestern Germany following WWI. Born in 1927, Mary grew up on her parent’s dairy and farm just outside of Marysville. She and her older brother and twin sister were lucky to have talented and loving parents who taught them about creativity and precision inherent in their mother’s clothing design, needlework and fabrication plus the love of good food and an appreciation for hard work from a very German point of view. Those ideals and principles saw them through the Great Depression of the 1930s. Mary and her twin (Mary Josepha) were each awarded Union Pacific scholarships in high school, and attended the University of Saint Mary in Leavenworth KS, as well as Kansas State. They shared their room and books, and all the while dressed identically as the twins they were in beautifully tailored clothing created by their mother. They both received degrees in dietetics and did their internships at Charity Hospital in New Orleans. Mom went on to work at a hospital in SW Kansas for a short amount of time before returning to Marysville to marry. In 1950, Mary married Louis Wempe, also of Marysville, and they had five children. Mary and Louis relocated to Emporia KS in 1975 and lived there for their remaining years together, raising their family and participating in their community. Louis passed away in 2003, and Mary lived many more years in Emporia before moving to Via Christi Assisted Living in Manhattan KS in 2020. Mary was a member of PEO and Etude in Emporia and enjoyed her time in those organizations as well as supporting and participating in their Catholic parish. Mary always felt fortunate to be able to travel around America, as well as to visit relatives in Germany‚ first for her 40th wedding anniversary, and again at the age of 80 with her eldest daughter. Throughout her lifetime, Mary followed in her mother’s footsteps, creating beautiful pieces of needlework, as well as appreciating and supporting artists and their art in other forms. She was a wonderful cook who understood the importance of coupling nutrition with tastiness to create good food and loved exploring new tastes and experiences, particularly in concert with her travels. Mary is pre-deceased by both parents, her brother Francis Lammerding, and her twin sister Mary Josepha Lammerding Johnston. She is survived by her five children Michelle, Conrad, Celeste, Rebecca, and Christopher, as well as their respective spouses and partners, her grandchildren and great- grandchildren. She is also survived by her niece and nephew, their children, and grandchildren. She loved spending time with everyone as much as she could, eagerly listening as they talked about their lives and experiences. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Wempe / Luckeroth Family Scholarship Fund in Veterinary Medicine at Kansas State or to St. Isidore’s Catholic Church in Manhattan, KS to fund their participation in the Konza Student Table which provides meals for Kansas State students who are food insecure. Please make your check payable to the fund you would like to support in honor of Mary and the family will see that all donations are sent to the appropriate entity. If you wish to support St. Izzy’s, please put “Konza Student Table” in the memo area of your check. Donations may be sent to Mary Wempe, 2040 Thackrey Street, Manhattan KS 66502, or in care of Kinsley Mortuary. To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Mary Elizabeth Lammerding Wempe, please visit our flower store.