Mary Enns was born to Sara C. Balzer Enns and Dietrich H. Enns April 4, 1914 near Hooker, OK; she was the 6th child out of 14 children, 7 boys and 7 girls. She spent her early days in the part of Oklahoma commonly known as the "Dust Bowl". When Mary was about 11 years old she accepted Christ into her life. After completing 8th grade in the Hooker school, she stayed home for one year then attended Corn Bible Academy in Corn, Oklahoma. During the Dust Bowl years Mary remembered it being dusty and windy and their chickens literally blew away! They had a fairly new house, and she said they carried dust out by the bucketsful after it had filtered into the house through the cracks. The property had a barbed wire fence, Russian thistles blew against the fence, dust collected, and they could actually walk over the fence. In 1934 her parents and 12 siblings left Oklahoma with all their belongings on a truck and in two cars they left for California. After a short period of time working in the grape and fig harvests in Reedley, CA the family headed north to British Columbia, Canada. When they arrived at the US/Canada border, they were not allowed to enter Canada, even for a visit so they all headed off to Dalles, OR. Mary and Albert met at church and courted secretly for a year. Though Mary was in her early twenties, she was only allowed to see Albert once a week. Sometimes, however, they managed to sneak off to be together. Once they decided to marry and Albert got Mary's fathers permission they were allowed a few more privileges in seeing each other.
On Sunday morning, December 5, 1937, following the regular morning service at the Orland Mennonite Brethren Church, a meal was served to relatives at Mary's parent's house. The wedding followed in the evening at the church, with Mary and Albert walking in together and sitting on the church platform, facing the congregation. Eventually Mary and Albert owned 60 acres of land on which they farmed and raised dairy cows. During the years of rearing their family, Mary said they were poor and sometimes didn't know where they would get money for the things they needed, but God always met their needs. They raised cows, chickens, pigs, and beef which gave them milk, eggs and meat. They always had a garden and fruit trees. Mary did lots of canning and later freezing. She even made her own maraschino cherries, pickles, jams, jellies, relishes, and fruit cocktail. Mary sewed many of her children's clothes as they grew up, and was faithful in church attendance, often sang in the choir, and taught her children about the Lord by word and example.
In 1978 Mary and Albert moved to Paradise, California where they lived until Albert's unexpected death on April 5, 1984. Four years after Albert passed away Edna Riffel, Mary's sister-in-law, passed away, and soon heard that Arnold Riffel was looking for a wife. Several of the family members learned that he was considering Mary and had great fun trying to figure how to get them together without being obvious about it. Arnold courted Mary for some months then they were married on March 11, 1989 with nearly all the guests already relatives. After a lovely wedding and reception, it was so cute to see the 75 year old bride and 76 year old groom leave in their van that had been decorated by their grandchildren. On November 10, 2004 Arnold was suddenly taken from us is a serious car accident in which Mary was severely battered and bruised. The Lord granted her good recovery and within a month, she moved into the Assisted Living park of Palm Village Retirement Center so she could be near her sister Katie and so Mary could receive some assistance in her later years of life.
Mary is survived by her son, Les Riffel and his wife Esther of Madera, her daughters, Loretta Buller and her husband LaVern of Spokane, Marvella Bartholomew and her husband Bill of IN, Darlene Button and her husband Gary of Gerber, her brothers, Herman Enns of Chico, Vic Enns of Dinuba, and her sister, Adena Mumford of Salinas. She also leaves behind ten grandchildren, twenty two great grandchildren and one great great-grandson.
Visitation will be held on Thursday, April 8, 2010 from 2:00 PM ~ 8:00 PM at Jay Chapel, Madera, CA. A Memorial Service will be held on Friday, April 9, 2010, 10:30 at Palm Village Retirement Center, 701 West Herbert Avenue, Reedley, CA. Graveside Service will be held on Monday, April 12, 2010, 1:00 PM at Paradise District Cemetery, Paradise, CA.
On Sunday morning, December 5, 1937, following the regular morning service at the Orland Mennonite Brethren Church, a meal was served to relatives at Mary's parent's house. The wedding followed in the evening at the church, with Mary and Albert walking in together and sitting on the church platform, facing the congregation. Eventually Mary and Albert owned 60 acres of land on which they farmed and raised dairy cows. During the years of rearing their family, Mary said they were poor and sometimes didn't know where they would get money for the things they needed, but God always met their needs. They raised cows, chickens, pigs, and beef which gave them milk, eggs and meat. They always had a garden and fruit trees. Mary did lots of canning and later freezing. She even made her own maraschino cherries, pickles, jams, jellies, relishes, and fruit cocktail. Mary sewed many of her children's clothes as they grew up, and was faithful in church attendance, often sang in the choir, and taught her children about the Lord by word and example.
In 1978 Mary and Albert moved to Paradise, California where they lived until Albert's unexpected death on April 5, 1984. Four years after Albert passed away Edna Riffel, Mary's sister-in-law, passed away, and soon heard that Arnold Riffel was looking for a wife. Several of the family members learned that he was considering Mary and had great fun trying to figure how to get them together without being obvious about it. Arnold courted Mary for some months then they were married on March 11, 1989 with nearly all the guests already relatives. After a lovely wedding and reception, it was so cute to see the 75 year old bride and 76 year old groom leave in their van that had been decorated by their grandchildren. On November 10, 2004 Arnold was suddenly taken from us is a serious car accident in which Mary was severely battered and bruised. The Lord granted her good recovery and within a month, she moved into the Assisted Living park of Palm Village Retirement Center so she could be near her sister Katie and so Mary could receive some assistance in her later years of life.
Mary is survived by her son, Les Riffel and his wife Esther of Madera, her daughters, Loretta Buller and her husband LaVern of Spokane, Marvella Bartholomew and her husband Bill of IN, Darlene Button and her husband Gary of Gerber, her brothers, Herman Enns of Chico, Vic Enns of Dinuba, and her sister, Adena Mumford of Salinas. She also leaves behind ten grandchildren, twenty two great grandchildren and one great great-grandson.
Visitation will be held on Thursday, April 8, 2010 from 2:00 PM ~ 8:00 PM at Jay Chapel, Madera, CA. A Memorial Service will be held on Friday, April 9, 2010, 10:30 at Palm Village Retirement Center, 701 West Herbert Avenue, Reedley, CA. Graveside Service will be held on Monday, April 12, 2010, 1:00 PM at Paradise District Cemetery, Paradise, CA.
Mary Enns was born to Sara C. Balzer Enns and Dietrich H. Enns April 4, 1914 near Hooker, OK; she was the 6th child out of 14 children, 7 boys and 7 girls. She spent her early days in the part of Oklahoma commonly known as the "Dust Bowl". When Mary was about 11 years old she accepted Christ into her life. After completing 8th grade in the Hooker school, she stayed home for one year then attended Corn Bible Academy in Corn, Oklahoma. During the Dust Bowl years Mary remembered it being dusty and windy and their chickens literally blew away! They had a fairly new house, and she said they carried dust out by the bucketsful after it had filtered into the house through the cracks. The property had a barbed wire fence, Russian thistles blew against the fence, dust collected, and they could actually walk over the fence. In 1934 her parents and 12 siblings left Oklahoma with all their belongings on a truck and in two cars they left for California. After a short period of time working in the grape and fig harvests in Reedley, CA the family headed north to British Columbia, Canada. When they arrived at the US/Canada border, they were not allowed to enter Canada, even for a visit so they all headed off to Dalles, OR. Mary and Albert met at church and courted secretly for a year. Though Mary was in her early twenties, she was only allowed to see Albert once a week. Sometimes, however, they managed to sneak off to be together. Once they decided to marry and Albert got Mary's fathers permission they were allowed a few more privileges in seeing each other.
On Sunday morning, December 5, 1937, following the regular morning service at the Orland Mennonite Brethren Church, a meal was served to relatives at Mary's parent's house. The wedding followed in the evening at the church, with Mary and Albert walking in together and sitting on the church platform, facing the congregation. Eventually Mary and Albert owned 60 acres of land on which they farmed and raised dairy cows. During the years of rearing their family, Mary said they were poor and sometimes didn't know where they would get money for the things they needed, but God always met their needs. They raised cows, chickens, pigs, and beef which gave them milk, eggs and meat. They always had a garden and fruit trees. Mary did lots of canning and later freezing. She even made her own maraschino cherries, pickles, jams, jellies, relishes, and fruit cocktail. Mary sewed many of her children's clothes as they grew up, and was faithful in church attendance, often sang in the choir, and taught her children about the Lord by word and example.
In 1978 Mary and Albert moved to Paradise, California where they lived until Albert's unexpected death on April 5, 1984. Four years after Albert passed away Edna Riffel, Mary's sister-in-law, passed away, and soon heard that Arnold Riffel was looking for a wife. Several of the family members learned that he was considering Mary and had great fun trying to figure how to get them together without being obvious about it. Arnold courted Mary for some months then they were married on March 11, 1989 with nearly all the guests already relatives. After a lovely wedding and reception, it was so cute to see the 75 year old bride and 76 year old groom leave in their van that had been decorated by their grandchildren. On November 10, 2004 Arnold was suddenly taken from us is a serious car accident in which Mary was severely battered and bruised. The Lord granted her good recovery and within a month, she moved into the Assisted Living park of Palm Village Retirement Center so she could be near her sister Katie and so Mary could receive some assistance in her later years of life.
Mary is survived by her son, Les Riffel and his wife Esther of Madera, her daughters, Loretta Buller and her husband LaVern of Spokane, Marvella Bartholomew and her husband Bill of IN, Darlene Button and her husband Gary of Gerber, her brothers, Herman Enns of Chico, Vic Enns of Dinuba, and her sister, Adena Mumford of Salinas. She also leaves behind ten grandchildren, twenty two great grandchildren and one great great-grandson.
Visitation will be held on Thursday, April 8, 2010 from 2:00 PM ~ 8:00 PM at Jay Chapel, Madera, CA. A Memorial Service will be held on Friday, April 9, 2010, 10:30 at Palm Village Retirement Center, 701 West Herbert Avenue, Reedley, CA. Graveside Service will be held on Monday, April 12, 2010, 1:00 PM at Paradise District Cemetery, Paradise, CA.
On Sunday morning, December 5, 1937, following the regular morning service at the Orland Mennonite Brethren Church, a meal was served to relatives at Mary's parent's house. The wedding followed in the evening at the church, with Mary and Albert walking in together and sitting on the church platform, facing the congregation. Eventually Mary and Albert owned 60 acres of land on which they farmed and raised dairy cows. During the years of rearing their family, Mary said they were poor and sometimes didn't know where they would get money for the things they needed, but God always met their needs. They raised cows, chickens, pigs, and beef which gave them milk, eggs and meat. They always had a garden and fruit trees. Mary did lots of canning and later freezing. She even made her own maraschino cherries, pickles, jams, jellies, relishes, and fruit cocktail. Mary sewed many of her children's clothes as they grew up, and was faithful in church attendance, often sang in the choir, and taught her children about the Lord by word and example.
In 1978 Mary and Albert moved to Paradise, California where they lived until Albert's unexpected death on April 5, 1984. Four years after Albert passed away Edna Riffel, Mary's sister-in-law, passed away, and soon heard that Arnold Riffel was looking for a wife. Several of the family members learned that he was considering Mary and had great fun trying to figure how to get them together without being obvious about it. Arnold courted Mary for some months then they were married on March 11, 1989 with nearly all the guests already relatives. After a lovely wedding and reception, it was so cute to see the 75 year old bride and 76 year old groom leave in their van that had been decorated by their grandchildren. On November 10, 2004 Arnold was suddenly taken from us is a serious car accident in which Mary was severely battered and bruised. The Lord granted her good recovery and within a month, she moved into the Assisted Living park of Palm Village Retirement Center so she could be near her sister Katie and so Mary could receive some assistance in her later years of life.
Mary is survived by her son, Les Riffel and his wife Esther of Madera, her daughters, Loretta Buller and her husband LaVern of Spokane, Marvella Bartholomew and her husband Bill of IN, Darlene Button and her husband Gary of Gerber, her brothers, Herman Enns of Chico, Vic Enns of Dinuba, and her sister, Adena Mumford of Salinas. She also leaves behind ten grandchildren, twenty two great grandchildren and one great great-grandson.
Visitation will be held on Thursday, April 8, 2010 from 2:00 PM ~ 8:00 PM at Jay Chapel, Madera, CA. A Memorial Service will be held on Friday, April 9, 2010, 10:30 at Palm Village Retirement Center, 701 West Herbert Avenue, Reedley, CA. Graveside Service will be held on Monday, April 12, 2010, 1:00 PM at Paradise District Cemetery, Paradise, CA.
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