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Mary Eliza Burgess Filter, age 98, passed away peacefully on Wednesday June 18 at her lifelong home on 6th St., Glendale Heights, with her daughter by her side. Mary was born on June 2, 1927, the youngest child of the late Thomas Sr. and Lena Suzanne (Bokelman) Burgess. A loving person and happy-go-lucky spirit, Mary always had a smile or a hug and kiss for those who knew her. Her motto was to put God and others before herself, always looking for how she could help others in any way and anywhere. Mary was versatile and celebrated life. She loved music, dancing, birds, wildlife, nature and especially her flowers and gardening. She treasured opportunities to sew, cook and bake for others. Mary enjoyed traveling and went abroad several times throughout her adult life. Perhaps most memorably, in 2012, she traveled to Suffolk, England and met long-lost cousins who quickly became and remain integral members of the extended Filter family. Mary’s most faithful hobby was a ministry of sending thousands of holiday, birthday, greeting and all other occasion cards to loved ones and anyone she thought she could bring light to. Mary lived a life of service and her work ethic was exemplary. She worked as a gas station attendant during World War II and later as a salesclerk at the late Stone & Thomas Department Store. She worked for the Democratic Party for several years, serving as a poll worker among other roles. She was a frequent blood donor to the American Red Cross, compelled to share her universal blood as much as she could. She volunteered with both the Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts when her children were young, was a life-long member of the V.F.W., a long-time member of Eagles Auxiliary Chapter 477, and a member of the Moundsville and Wheeling Senior Centers. Mary was Membership Director for several years with the former Parents Without Partners Chapter 577 of Wheeling. After her husband passed away in 1971, Mary enrolled in the B.M. Spurr School of Nursing, then worked as an LPN for 16 years, before retiring at 65. Mary loved her job and her patients and was loved in return. Mary would sing or hum while she worked, a trait inherited from her mother. She was dubbed as the “singing nurse” by her patients and bestowed additional terms of endearment like “Ms. Sunshine.” Had she known she would live so long, she said she would have kept working for at least 10 more years. Noted for her willingness to jump in and work a double shift anytime needed, she was happy to demonstrate that “hard work never killed anyone!” Mary was the last surviving founding member of the St. Jude Club, formed in the 1950s and named after the patron saint of impossible causes because some said that it would be impossible to build and maintain a Catholic church in Glen Dale, which was the group’s intent. Mary was elected Treasurer and served in that role for the life of the club. To open a bank account, she made the first monetary donation to the future St. Jude Catholic Church. Approximately ten years later, the St. Jude Club had raised enough funds to build the Church Hall, a building to serve as temporary church while being used to continue raising money for the permanent church. Mary and her family hosted her 90th birthday party in the Church Hall in 2017. In 1988, the beautiful permanent St. Jude Church was completed and dedicated. Involved in the St. Jude parish from the very beginning, Mary also held the treasurer office of the St. Jude Women’s Guild for 10 years before passing the torch. She served as a Eucharistic Minister and as an Altarist for several years, along with other duties within the parish. Mary was preceded in death by her loving husband Kesty J. Filter (2-25-71) and her youngest son Kenneth R. Filter (5-8-14), two brothers, two sisters, 11 brothers- and 9 sisters-in law, several nephews, nieces and cherished friends who meant the world to her. Surviving Mary are one daughter Mary Kay Filter Dietrich; two sons Henry Edward “Butch” Filter and Kesty Francis Filter; two grand-daughters Heather Ann Dietrich Batzel and husband Urs Batzel and Season Colette Dietrich Burris and husband Col. Matthew Burris, Retired; two grandsons Henry Burke and wife Angela Burke, and Shawn Burke; five great grand-children Emily Burke, Aidan Burke, Adelena Batzel, Benjamin Burris and Thomas Burris; plus one great-great-grandson; her beloved cousin David Platt, his wife Claire Parfrey, and cousins Emma Platt and Robert Parfrey; nine nieces and eight nephews including her very special nephew Douglas Filter, plus numerous grand-nieces and -nephews. At Mary’s request, there was no public visitation, and she was laid to rest next to the love of her life at Riverview Cemetery in Moundsville on June 20th. It was Mary’s final wish that she be remembered as you last saw her and that everyone be “happy and not sad.” At the family’s request, memorial donations may be sent to St. Jude Church, 826 Jefferson Avenue, PO Box 147, Glen Dale, WV 26038.

Tributes

Mary Eliza Burgess Filter

June 2, 1927 - June 18, 2025