On Monday morning, November 5th, 2018, Mary Jean Shinn passed away from this life into the welcoming arms of Jesus Christ. Mary Jean Shinn of Seneca, Kansas died peacefully at the Life Care Center in Seneca, Kansas at the age of 89 years.

Mary Jean was born February 17th, 1929 at Pawnee Hospital. She was the second child, first daughter born to Joseph and Mary Weis-Blecha of Burchard, Nebraska whom she lovingly called Daddy and Mama. She attended the Violet country school as a young girl, going to school by buckboard pulled by mules. She enjoyed growing up on the farm, riding her horse, playing with jacks and her china doll and playing piano. She recalled eating a lot of chocolate cake and homemade bread as a child during the Great Depression because it was inexpensive to make and money was tight. After completing the 8th grade she stayed home on the family farm to help with the care of her six younger siblings.

Mary Jean Blecha married Ernest Jerome Shinn at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Steinauer, Nebraska on February 1st, 1956. They had met at a wedding dance in Steinauer. Ernest was in the Army stationed at Fort Riley in Kansas and the coupled corresponded by love letters during their courtship. They were married within the year and raised their family on the Shinn Family Farm in DuBois, Nebraska. They had four children; Donald, Raymond, Linda and Marlene who will remember her big smile, hard- working and sacrificing attitude.

Mary Jean always believed in hard work and enjoyed working alongside her husband on the farm while raising their kids. She maintained a large garden every year, canning and freezing her produce. Besides raising chickens and hogs on the family farm, she also enjoyed tending beautiful flowers and her garden. Her prized pets were her Hereford cattle which she helped raise and care for. She and her husband Ernest started the herd with 5 head from her parents and had at one time 100 cows. She enjoyed her cattle and they knew her voice, coming to her when she would call “here girls”.

Her husband Ernest passed away at the age of 57 of Leukemia on January 24, 1989. She left the family farm a few years later and made her home in Seneca, Kansas to live closer to her son Ray and his wife Margie and her grandchildren. She enjoyed her time in Seneca with her family, neighbors and card club friends. She attended Saint Peter and Paul Catholic Church for over 50 years and was a member of Saint Anne’s Altar Society. She enjoyed giving her time to help at the Sts. Peter and Paul Mission Center. Mary Jean spent her last several years of her life at the Life Care Center.

Mary Jean is survived by her sons Donald and his wife Therese Shinn of Lenexa, Raymond and his wife Margie Shinn of Seneca, her daughters Linda Shinn-Daley of Bettendorf, Iowa and her daughter Marlene and husband Donald of Belleville, Illinois. She is also survived by her brothers John and Richard Blecha, and Morris Blecha and wife Francis as well as by sisters-in-laws Mildred Panec of Fairbury, Nebraska and Alice Albers of Chicago, Illinois. Mary Jean was loved by her 10 grandchildren, 3 step-grandchildren, 1 great-granddaughter, and 6 step-great-grandchildren.

Mary Jean was proceeded in death by her husband, Ernest. Also her siblings Robert, Charles, Betty and Joann Blecha of Burchard, Nebraska and her brothers-in-laws Al Panec of Grand Island and Charles Albers of Chicago and sister-in-law Mary Ann Blecha of Humboldt, Nebraska.

Visitation and Rosary will be held at Lauer Funeral Home in Seneca, Kansas on Thursday, November 8 at 7:00 p.m. The funeral service will also be held at Saint Peter and Paul Catholic Church on Friday, November 9 at 11:00 a.m. Burial will take place at the DuBois, Nebraska cemetery following the luncheon. Memorials for Mary Jean Shinn can be made towards the Saint Peter and Paul Mission Center.