Mary Ann Wallenburn

Mary Ann (Walker) Wallenburn, 100, of Otterville, Missouri, passed away July 15, 2023, in Sedalia, Missouri.  Mary Ann was born October 29, 1922, in San Antonio, Texas, to Curtis Lee Walker, Sr. and Mary Ann (Toudouze) Walker.  She was the last surviving grandchild of Joe Walker, who had nineteen children and a multitude of grandchildren.

Mrs. Wallenburn was valedictorian of the 1940 class of Burbank High School, where she participated in many plays. She was a cadet in the Junior ROTC and enjoyed softball and volleyball, but tennis was her favorite sport.  She attended Southwest Texas Teacher’s College, then began working for the U.S. Army in San Antonio, except for three years spent in Dallas during World War II. 

An independent young woman, Mary Ann purchased her first car without knowing how to drive, and then needed her brother to drive it home from the lot and teach her.  She purchased her own home while single and enjoyed traveling across the country with her dear friends.  She eventually became secretary for General Jonathan Wainwright when he was Commanding Officer at Fort Sam Houston.  She was well respected and was offered a job with what was becoming the CIA when it was first established.  The job would have taken her to Europe, but she chose to remain in the U.S. and become married and start a family.

She stopped working outside of the home when she married Laurence Harry Wallenburn on October 24, 1959, in San Antonio and became a devoted wife and mother.  Upon Harry’s retirement from the U.S. Army in 1961, the family moved to Klamath Falls and then Crater Lake, Oregon.  In 1968 they moved to Otterville, Missouri.  This stylish city woman adapted to life in the country but always preserved her deep love for Texas and her family’s long history there, including two cousins who were killed at the Alamo. 

Mary Ann returned to the outside workforce in the late 1970s, retiring from the Tipton Correctional Center in 1987.  She was very focused on her faith and her children and was a member of St. Andrew’s Catholic Church and St. Leo’s Sodality of Our Blessed Lady.  She was a Cub Scout den mother, 4-H leader, and a Sunday School teacher.  She was an active member of Missouri Right to Life, altar societies, the Walnut Grove Extension Club, and an American Legion Auxiliary lifetime member and spent countless hours volunteering for these organizations.

Mrs. Wallenburn was gracious and kind, and her home was always open to family, friends, neighborhood children and friends of her children, whether they stayed for an hour or a week.  As the grandchildren say, no one would ever leave her home hungry.

Mary Ann was preceded in death by her husband in 2008, her parents, her brothers Floyd Walker, Roy Walker, and C. L. Walker, Jr., her sisters Lucille Britt and Frances Walker, and a grandson Jason Nosovitch.  She is survived by her children Marine retired Maj. David Wallenburn (Joann), Seeley Lake, Montana; Greg Nosovitch (Karen), Jefferson City; Teresa Wallenburn Callahan, Sedalia; Elizabeth Frazier (Sam), Parkville; Tina Pachl, Vinita, Oklahoma; and Jenny Mertes (Greg), Kansas City; grandchildren Rachel Adams (Ryan), Seeley Lake, Montana; Jennifer Clancy (Sean), Columbia, Illinois; Dr. Mace Nosovitch, Chesterfield; Sara Joyce, Hope Mills, North Carolina; Jerrica Smith, Bonner Springs, Kansas; U.S. Army CWO2 Sean Frazier (Danielle), Vass, North Carolina; Emma Frazier, Parkville; Corinne Pachl, Kansas City; Alanna Pachl, Richardson, Texas; Mary Madelyn Mertes, Columbia; and Jacob Mertes, Kansas City; sixteen great-grandchildren; sister-in-law Dorothy Wallenburn, Klamath Falls, Oregon; beloved niece and Godchild Linda Perkins (Bob), Converse, Texas; numerous nieces and nephews; and her special sweetie Kim Wallenburn (Columbia).

Visitation will be July 18^th at the Meisenheimer Funeral Home in Otterville, beginning with a rosary at 5 pm.  The family will receive guests until 7 pm.  Mass of Christian Burial will be July 19^th at 10 am at St. Andrew’s Catholic Church in Tipton.  A visitation will be held on July 24 at 12:00 pm at the Angelus Funeral Home in San Antonio, TX with graveside service at 2:00 pm at Ft. Sam Houston.  Memorial contributions may be sent to the Vitae Society, Missouri Right to Life, or St. Andrew’s Church.

Vitae Society - Mail: PO Box 79, Jefferson City, MO 65109; Online: https://vitaefoundation.org/donate/

Missouri Right to Life - Mail: PO Box 651, Jefferson City, MO 65102; Online: https://missourilife.org/donate/

St. Andrew's Church - Mail: 106 W. Cooper St., Tipton, MO 65081