MARY LOUISE SHULER

Mary Lou was born on Dec. 9, 1929 in Midland, Michigan to Bernard and Edna (Freeman) Niehoff. She was raised in Midland along with her brother Bernard (Ned) and sister Nancy Ann. Mary Lou graduated from Albion College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1952 and from the University of Michigan with a Master of Arts degree in Education in 1956.

She began her teaching career in Saginaw, Michigan where she met a fellow teacher and the love of her life, William (Bill) Shuler. Mary Lou and Bill were married Dec. 27, 1954 and were married for 60 years. The couple moved to Alpena, Michigan in 1956 where they raised their four children. She called Alpena home until 2019 when she moved to Kalamazoo to be closer to her family.

Like many women during that time, Mary Lou set her career aside to raise her family. She was a loving and adventurous mother. She loved to take the road less traveled and explore new places, food, music, and art with the family. She enjoyed planning parties and always made birthdays special and Christmas festive. Once her children were all in school, she returned to teaching in the Alpena Public Schools, specializing in the diagnosis of reading disorders.

Mary Lou and Bill loved tent camping with their children and traveled around Michigan and throughout the United States in the summertime. After retirement, they continued their adventures in a camper, often planning trips around airshows, rock hounding, fishing, and family visits. They traveled abroad and enjoyed tours where they could study the local history, geology, wildlife, or natural history of a location. They also enjoyed spending time at the family cottage at Black Lake, the hunting camp, attending concerts and plays, and watching sports.

Mary Lou was a member of the First Congregational United Church of Christ of Alpena for over 60 years, serving on numerous boards and committees. She was planning to become a member of the First Congregational Church of Kalamazoo on Easter Sunday.

Mary Lou will be remembered for her extraordinary skills in the fiber arts. She was an accomplished seamstress and sewed most of her children’s clothes as well as beautifully tailored suits for her husband. She smocked dresses and pieced quilts. She enjoyed beading and jewelry making, using the stones collected and polished by Bill. A knitting project was always in her hands. She made sweaters and socks, and more than a thousand pairs of mittens and hats, giving many away to warm the hands of strangers. In mid-life Mary Lou took up spinning and weaving and loved learning new techniques right up to the end. She treasured the friendships of the many sewers, knitters, spinners, and weavers that she met during her lifetime.

The past year presented challenges due to COVID restrictions. Mary Lou embraced the challenge and used this time of solitude to work on her many fiber projects, read and discuss books and newspapers with her family, watch tennis and basketball tournaments, write letters, and enjoy her daily cup of tea. She once remarked that she’d been training for this year her entire life.

Mary Lou is survived by her four children, Jeri (Mike Macek) Shuler, William Shuler, Elizabeth (James) Gibson, and Karl Shuler, eight grandchildren, Elyse (Matthew) Larson, Gordon (Caitlin) Hyde, Madeline (partner James Cook) Hyde, Eleanor (partner Andrew Lytle) Gibson, Margaret Gibson, Walter Gibson, Nathan Shuler, and Devin Shuler, one great-grandchild, Charlotte Hyde. She is survived by her sister Nancy Ann Miller, and many nieces and nephews.

Mary Lou was preceded in death by her husband William Shuler, her brother Ned, and daughter-in-law, Marcelyn (Bennett) Shuler.

Per her wish, cremation has taken place. A celebration of the life of Mary Louise Shuler will take place in Alpena in the summertime.

If desired, donations in her memory may be made to the First Congregational United Church of Christ of Alpena and the Alpena Public Library.