Mary Ann Scheckel, 83, of Preston, Iowa, passed away in her home on October 2, 2024 surrounded by family and friends. Mary or Ann, depending on how you knew her, was born October 4, 1940, the daughter of Adolph and Lucille (Sullivan) Franzen. She married Robert William Scheckel on October 10, 1959, at Sugar Creek Catholic Church, and then they became members of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Preston. They farmed in Preston until Bob’s death on May 30, 1977. After Bob’s death, she endured the loss of their family home by fire later that year. In 1984, she moved to the town of Preston and lived there until her death.
She was a graduate of Preston High School, Class of 1958. She was a graduate of Minnesota School of Business as a Medical Technologist in 1959. Besides running a farm, she drove a school bus for Preston Community School, starting in 1976 for approximately eight years. She also worked as a laboratory technologist for Dr. James P. Cahill for over 40 years, retiring when Dr. Cahill passed in 2017.
She was known far and wide for her cooking and baking. She loved making people their favorite foods, such as her potato salad, chocolate chip cookies, red cake, and her Christmas candy she made yearly to share with family and friends. She loved to travel, seeing places like Mexico and Alaska, as well as many states visiting family and friends. She was an avid card player, with a group or Solitaire on her tablet. She loved watching Days of Our Lives daily and loved to garden. She also was a member of the Red Hat Society, being the Queen Bee during her tenure.
Her loving family includes her children, Gail (William) Rock, Rodney (Lori Budde) Scheckel, Michael Scheckel, Deborah (John) Rogers; eight grandchildren, and eight great grandchildren, all which she was so proud of; her siblings, Beverly Clasen and Darwin (Dee) Franzen; sister in-laws, Ione (Scheckel) Rowan and Marcy Franzen.
She was preceded in death by her parents; husband; three brothers, Donald, William, and Richard Franzen; brothers-in-law, Larry Clasen and Milton Rowan and sister-in-law, Elaine (Vern) Koch.
Funeral Mass will be held at 11:00 a.m., Monday, October 7, at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Preston. Visitation will be from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., Sunday, October 6, at the church. A scripture wake service will be held prior to the visitation at 3:30 p.m. Burial will be in St. Joseph’s Catholic Cemetery.
