Mary Knope
Age - 71
August 15, 2023
Mary "Emma" Lynn Knope age 71 passed away August 14, 2023. Mary resided on Wood Duck Way in Keshena for 22 years. She was born on August 9, 1952, at the Keshena Hospital and was the only survivor of triplets as well as the only known triplet birth at the Keshena Hospital, born to the late Henry Fredenberg and Margaret Newton. When Mary was 2 months old, she was adopted by the best set of parents she could have ever asked for: the late Elmer Knope and Cora Emma Anna (Moesch) Knope. Mary lived in Shawano most of her life and attended St James Lutheran School for 8 years where she was very proud of being a school cheerleader for 4 years. She went on to graduate from Shawano High School in 1970. Following high school, she married Donald Bartels and moved to Cicero, Illinois for several years. Mary then returned to Shawano and worked as a waitress in many area supper clubs, then became a certified nursing assistant working at the Shawano Convalescent Center for many years. In 2009 she graduated from Kaplan University with an associate degree in medical assistant. Following that, Mary worked as a Food Service Manager for the Menominee Indian School District, then became a Nutritional Educator at the Menominee Tribal Day Care, then Keshena meal site as the Head Cook, and lastly she worked as a Nutritional Educator at the Menominee Indian Tribe Food Distribution program. Mary owned and operated "Clean Sweep" residential cleaning business on Legend Lake for 22 years and made many friends through the business. Retiring in 2022 due to health reasons. Mary always made sure she worked hard to care for her children. Mary really enjoyed following several R & B bands in and around Wisconsin and neighboring states; she loved the Risque band (MI), Westside band (MN), Area Code band (NY), BBI band (Chicago), and the NuCorp band (Ohio) and each member of these bands were her best friends. If any of these bands were playing within driving distance, it was guaranteed that Mary and Alice Kessen had front row seating. She loved to travel to see great friends and relatives in Illinois, Minnesota, Georgia, and Arizona. If you asked her to go, her bags would already be packed!She was probably the biggest bird watcher east of the Mississippi River, she especially loved watching cardinals and hummingbirds. Mary had about 12 feeders out in the spring, her true passion. She always looked forward to visiting with friends and relatives, especially her children and granddaughters. During warm weather, Mary could always be found sitting out on her deck alone or with friends and family. She loved going on the lake pontooning as well as just spending time with her family swimming with the kids and always doing her swan dive off the dock. Mary always looked forward to going to see her favorite bands play! She loved canning and taught it as well and usually had enough to share with others, especially her dill pickles which her children and friends loved. Lastly, she was a huge Chicago Bears fan and a huge Cubies fan. Win or lose they were her teams!She is survived by the love of her life, of 27 years, Richard Pieper; two wonderful sons, Bradley (Justine) Knope of Shawano, and Chad Bartels of Keshena; three beautiful granddaughters, Chloe Knope, Carly Knope, and Kylie Bartels; sister, Sally Knope-Schick; brother-in-law, Lance Maltbey; nieces, Averi (Rod) Peralta and their children, Nicole (Jeff) Wachowiak and their son, Andrew; sister-in-law, Mary Ann Matuszewski; her BEST friend for life (to be exact 65 years) meeting in kindergarten at St James School, Kathy (Moesch) DeWitt and their children, Ryan (Natalie) DeWitt, Allysa and Alexis, Trish (Derrick) Dewitt; sister-in-law, Nanette (Pamonicutt) Corn, her children, Craig (Lori), Marty (Stephanie), JJ Corn; cousins, Jim Fredenberg, Lacey (Bunny) Fredenberg, Dave (Rusty) Fredenberg, and Dave (Belle) Burkart all of Arizona. Friends from Georgia, John and Bonnie Stickney, their children and grandchildren, as well as Bob and Debbie of Yulee, Florida. As well as many, many wonderful friends and neighbors. There to greet Mary with open arms were her parents, Elmer and Cora Knope; sister, Linda (Eth); brothers, Alvin Knope and Jonathan Corn Sr. ; her infant brother, Keith and sister, Kathy; nephew, Christopher Schick; foster sister, Ida Schaeffer; as well as many aunts, uncles and friends. She is in heaven holding her precious dog Amiyah. Family and friends gathering will be held at 9:00 am until 1:00 pm on Saturday August 19, 2023, at Swedberg Funeral Home in Shawano. The family would like to extend a special thank you to Unity Hospice care team and all other professional caregivers during her courageous battle with cancer. Memorial DonationShow more
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