Mary Catherine Nuth was born in the City of Butler Pennsylvania, on November 10, 1921. Her family of eight lived in a small house on the side of a hill. Behind the house was a wooded valley with a creek where the children played. They had very little money, but they had each other.
Mary’s mother, Alma Fueller, was a daughter of German immigrants who settled in Pittsburgh to run an automotive service station. Her father, William E. Nuth, descended from English coal miners. William never had a trade of his own, but would do whatever was necessary to provide for his family. He had been a butcher, a rag picker, a salesman, an awning maker, and even a city councilman.
Mary loved her father most of all, and she had great respect for her mother, who’s firm hand guided her into adulthood. The six children were born across three decades. By the time the last was born, the first three were adults. The last child, Patty Sue, was born to Mother Alma at the age of 47. Mary, now at the age of fifteen, would care for Patty Sue as her own, for Mother Alma was just too tired to do so.
After high school, Mary went to work at the Armco steel mill, where she would meet Joseph Wagner. They would marry and have two children, two grandchildren and one great-grandchild. They settled in Butler, only one street over from the little house where Mary was raised.
Mary excelled as a home-maker. As an accomplished cook and trained seamstress, she kept her family clothed and well fed. Her talent in sewing led her to tailoring and upholstery school. She recovered countless pieces of furniture well into her eighties. And yet she still had time for a career as an operator for Bell Telephone.
After her children graduated from school, the entire family relocated to Florida, where Mary started a nearly thirty year love affair with the game of tennis. She took tennis lessons and played in a tennis league. She continued to play tennis until the age of 89.
We lost our beloved Mary on August 4, 2013. She was 91. Mary’s ashes were interred on November 14th, 2013 atop of her parents grave in Rose Hill Cemetery, Butler Pennsylvania.
