MARY ELLEN "MERT" DETERS

Mary Ellen "Mert" Deters, age 83, formerly of LaGrange, Mo, died Sunday, July 23, 2023, in Maple Lawn Nursing Home in Palmyra, Mo.

Mert was born September 6, 1939 in Payson, Illinois, the daughter of Carl E. and Margaret Schnellbecker Dingerson. She was the eighth of ten children and the last to be born at home.
On August 22, 1959, she married Clarence Lee Deters in St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church. He preceded her in death on February 9, 2017.
Mert graduated from Seymour High School in Payson and attended nurses training at Blessing Hospital. She had been an employee of Artcraft, Motorola, and Paper Box until shortly before it closed. She also worked for Casey's in Canton. Mrs. Deters was a past member of Lewis County Extension Council, past Walnut Grove 4-H leader, and a past member of Notre Dame Catholic Church in LaGrange. Mert was currently a member of St. Francis Solanus Catholic Church in Quincy. She loved gardening, sewing, hunting, grandkids, and reading. She had also been a member of the Wagon Wheelers Western Square Dance Club. The last 35 years, Mert worked as an upholsterer, in addition to helping her husband on the farm for her entire married life.
Mert is survived by: two daughters, Nancy A. (Brad) Helton of Calhan, Colo., and Kathy Sue Deters of Palmyra, Mo.; ten grandchildren, Jessica (Alex) Gaudian of West DesMoines, Ia., Adam Lee Deabenderfer and Henry Deabenderfer both of Pennsylvania, Lee Wayne Helton of Calhan, Colo, Morgan Helton of Rapid City, S.D., Wyatt Helton of Calhan, Colo., Madalynn Olmsted of St. Louis, Mo., Riley Olmsted of LaGrange, Mo., Delainy and Hadlie Kroeger of Palmyra, Mo.; four great grandchildren; a brother, Donald Dingerson of Payson, Ill.; two sisters, Anna Mae Hunziker of Hurdland, Mo., Norma J. (Bob) Perry of Payson, IL; and numerous nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by: a daughter, Juanita Deabenderfer; her parents; three sisters Bessie l. Sprague, Alvena Campbell, and Cora L. Davis; and three brothers, Robert W., Raymond, and Earl Dingerson.
Visitation: 4-7pm Thursday, July 27, 2023 at the Hansen-Spear Funeral Home.

Funeral Mass: 9:30 am prayers on Friday, July 28, 2023, at Hansen-Spear Funeral Home followed by a 10:00 am Mass of Christian Burial at St. Francis Solanus Catholic Church with Fr. Steve Arisman officiating. Burial will follow at Calvary Cemetery.
Memorials: St. Francis Solanus Church, American Heart Association, or the American Kidney Fund. Memorial Donations may be made online at https://memorials.hansenspear.com

Hansen-Spear Funeral Directors are in charge of arrangements. www.hansenspear.com