Mary K. Fliehs

Services for Mary Fliehs, 78, of Groton will be 3:00 p.m., Saturday, February 22nd at St. John’s Lutheran Church, Groton. Rev. Jeremy Yeadon will officiate. Inurnment will take place in the spring in Union Cemetery under the direction of Paetznick-Garness Funeral Chapel, Groton.

Visitation will be held for one hour prior to services at the church.

Mary passed away February 10, 2025 at Bethesda Home of Aberdeen.

Mary Kathryn was born on August 15, 1946 in Sisseton to Phillip and LaVera (Arbach) Seurer.  She attended grade school in Sisseton and then graduated from Groton High School in 1964.  Mary continued her education at the Aberdeen School of Commerce. She graduated with a one-year degree in business office work and bookkeeping. On November 27, 1965, she was united in marriage with Darrel Marvin Fliehs and together they were blessed with two children.

Mary was talented in so many ways. Her ability to work with numbers and finances amazed everyone. Her calculations were spot on. If she was off one cent, she would start back over and keep working until everything balanced. She never sat still. She was working constantly from Bostwick’s, High Grade Oil, Darrel’s Sinclair, Eide Helmeke, Fritzi’s, to Walmart just to name a few. She had a knack with customers far and wide. She taught her children to work hard, build relationships, and above all how to care for others.  Mary showed her love and care for others through her gardening, canning, cooking, and baking.  Her garden was her sanctuary, and she worked in it tirelessly. She was proud to show it to anyone who was interested. She spent countless hours tending to it to reap what she needed to can for each year. Her cucumbers and beans were picked almost daily to be the perfect size to make her famous canned beans and her prized dill pickles. There was never an August day that the canner wasn’t on the stove and clean jars somewhere close by. She loved to bake! She was always baking something and sharing it. Mary’s homemade bun recipe was known all over town. It was a special surprise when you were delivered those buns or something that she baked. Customers would come running at Darrel’s Sinclair when it was Customer Appreciation Days. Mary made everything and it was all from scratch. Her baking was a part of many family holiday traditions: Christmas, Thanksgiving, graduation parties, birthdays, and baptisms. Her ability to take a recipe to the next level with “a little of this” did not often answer the question, “Do you have a recipe for that?” Mary’s wonderful ability in the kitchen was what brought us all together.

Her grandchildren were the apple of her eye. She loved being with them and showing her love for them by taking care of them when needed, for a long weekend, or just spending time with them in the garden. She spent time with them teaching them her ways of picking and gathering.  She wanted them to understand the value and great reward you acquire from the garden to the table. Her favorite question to the grandchildren was, “Do you know how much I love you? Big Bunches!” and she would spread her arms as wide as they could go. Mary loved and loved big.

Mary was active in St. John’s Lutheran Church and the Legion Auxiliary.

Celebrating her life are her children, Rich and Heather Fliehs of Groton, Becky and Eric Larson of Mitchell, grandchildren: Connor Larson, Lauren Larson and fiancé Matthew Billion, Adam Fliehs, Anna Fliehs, and Samuel Fliehs, her brother, Dick & Wava Seurer of Groton and in laws, Carol Seurer, Dick & Judy Fliehs, Duane & Rhonda Fliehs, Dale & Claire Fliehs, Doris Briggs, Diane Hickenbotham, Sharon & Mike Dell and many nieces and nephews.

Preceding her in death were her parents Phillip Seurer and LaVera Skogen, her husband, Darrel in 2012, her brother, Kenny Seurer, and in-laws, Harvey & Bernice Fliehs, Carlman Briggs, Arvilla and Alan Gross, Irene Fliehs and Betty Ann Fliehs.

www.paetznick-garness.com

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