- Date Of Birth: January 24, 1928
- Date Of Death: May 19, 2014
- State: Nebraska
Mary Alice (Bates) Bossung was born in Tecumseh, Nebraska to Spence and Lucy (Blakely) Bates on January 24, 1928. She attended Tecumseh Public Schools until the 10th grade. As a child she had some health problems but that did not stop her from helping her father in his grocery store or learning to cook and sew from her mother. She was confirmed at the United Methodist Church in Tecumseh on April18, 1943 and has been a lifelong member of that church.
After meeting Eugene Bossung during high school, she and Eugene eloped and married on December 28, 1945 in Hiawatha, Kansas. After several moves, they settled on a farm north of Tecumseh where they lived for almost 60 years. Mary Alice and Gene had one son, Alan. After Gene’s death on December 25, 2007, Mary Alice moved to Tecumseh and then to Assisted Living in Syracuse where she resided until her death.
“Mousie”, as she was known by family and friends, was an avid seamstress. She worked at a sewing factory in Auburn for a number of years. In addition, she made a niece’s wedding dress and a granddaughter’s prom dress as well as numerous other sewing projects over the years. She always had a huge garden with enough vegetables for the whole county. She was a great cook of her family’s favorites: chocolate cake, any kind of pie, and gravy at every meal. And being a farmer’s wife, she worked alongside Gene doing chores when needed, being the errand-runner, taking countless meals to the fields, and doing whatever was needed to make a living on the farm.
Family has always been an important part of her life, from the Bates family Christmas to her grandchildren’s activities and everything in-between. Besides Gene, her grandchildren were the love of her life.
Mary Alice passed away on May 19, 2014 at Johnson County Hospital. She is survived by son, Alan Bossung and wife Ruth of Tecumseh, granddaughters Sarah Bossung of Eagle and Mary Bossung and fiancé Justin Brown of Des Moines, IA; sisters Norma Anderson of Syracuse, and Bette Morrissey of Tecumseh, numerous nieces and nephews, and countless friends.
She is preceded in death by husband Eugene, grandson Andrew Bossung, parents, brothers, Charles and Robert, and sisters, Mildred James and Helen McPherrin.
