Mary Ann (Preuss) Merklein, youngest of 7 children, was born January 25, 1925 northeast of
Stuttgart, KS on the family farm to Fred and Barbara (Weinman) Preuss.  She passed away July 5, 2019 in the Phillips County Hospital in Phillipsburg, KS at the age of 94.

Mary Ann was baptized on February 22, 1925 and confirmed on June 19, 1938 at the Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Stuttgart.

Due to a lack of water, the family moved to a farm west of Stuttgart when she was about two years old. Her father was killed in a gun accident in 1929 when she was four. Money was very scarce while she was growing up in the dirty thirties and she became very conservative and frugal, being careful not to waste anything.

She attended Brush Creek, a one room school house, through the 8th grade. Mary Ann worked several years at Duckwalls department store in Phillipsburg. On April 11, 1948 Mary Ann was united in marriage to Ehrhart Merklein at the Emmanuel Lutheran Church, Stuttgart. They made their home on the family farm south of Stuttgart. To this union two daughters, Jolene and Jane, were born. Mary Ann & Ehrhart were privileged to celebrate their 71 ^st wedding anniversary.

Mary Ann was a homemaker, a devoted & loving wife, mother, and grandmother, and a faithful & active member of Emmanuel Lutheran Church for many years.

In 1987 Ehrhart and Mary Ann moved to Stuttgart. Polka music and polka dances were an important part of their married life and many weekends found them at a polka dance. She also enjoyed cooking, sewing, crocheting and gardening.

Most of her siblings lived close and were a big part of her life. They would get together often to visit and play a 'hot' game of either pinochle or pitch and then 'lunch' before going home that night. Birthdays were also celebrated by getting together for card games and 'lunching'.

Her grandchildren & great-grandchildren were her treasures; they brought her much joy and
happiness. She always looked forward to spending time with them and they made many happy memories together playing cards. Grandma & Grandpa would speak in German when they didn't want the kids to know what they were saying, which was usually something about them. Mary Ann had a kind and tender heart, and was known to cry with an injured child saying that she hurt, too.

She is preceded in death by her parents; sisters, Alma Wagner, Minnie Ehm, Anna Martens, Lillie Grote, and Martha Krafft and her brother, Michael Preuss.

Survivors include her husband, Ehrhart; two daughters: Jolene Posson & husband, Bill, and Jane Kirchhoff & husband, Anthony, all of Stuttgart; two grandchildren: Alyssa Stites & husband, Travis, Phillipsburg, and Colin Kirchhoff & wife, Alissa, Prairie View; three great-grandchildren:  Bella, Briley, and Bryson Stites; and sister-in-law, Verna Huiting, Stuttgart. She will be greatly missed.

Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, July 10, 2019 in the Emmanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church in Stuttgart, KS with Pastor Lorna Paulus officiating.  Burial will follow in Emmanuel Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery, Stuttgart.

Mrs. Merklein will lie in state from noon to 9 p.m. Monday and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday in the Olliff-Boeve Memorial Chapel, 1115 2 ^nd Street, Phillipsburg, KS  67661.

Memorial contributions may be made in lieu of flowers to the Emmanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church or Prairie Wind Villa.