Mary Ann Kuhle, 83, of Pullman passed away May 24, 2023 at her Pullman home.  Mary Ann Kuhle was born in Junction City, Kansas, the only child of Bruce and Mary Reighley until her sister, Nancy, was born when Mary Ann was fourteen. Mary Ann was the mother and step-mother of nine children in a blended family, Michael (Suzie) Schad, Jon (Laurie) Schad, Jody (Schad) Brand, Teyadora Kuhle, Andrika Kuhle, Theodore Kuhle, Ahna Kuhle, Nathan (Rachel) Kuhle, and Andrew (Tawsha) Kuhle.

Although Mary Ann had spent the final three years of her life confined to an arm chair, she continued to stay active reading, visiting and running the household from her chair. Being chair-bound in her living room, she was limited to enjoying nature, which she loved, watching her birds, squirrels, and an occasional deer in the menagerie outside the picture window. Her body became progressively more infirm from a degenerative nerve/muscle disorder until it finally said, "Enough of this, we're moving on."

Though never complaining, Mary Ann missed leaving the house to visit with her friends. She loved people and knew no stranger. Friends and strangers were always met with a jovial greeting and smile, and her friends knew that she always had time for a conversation when they met at the grocery store, library, or thrift store. She usually had her limit of books checked out at the library, and enjoyed picking out clothes for her grandchildren at the thrift shops.

Mary Ann exuded a zest for life and had the energy to go with it. She loved animals and had always had a dog from early childhood. One of her favorite outdoor activities was hiking on Round Top and Magpie Hill with her dogs. She enjoyed being outside whether it was nurturing her flowers, feeding her birds, bicycling, or rock climbing.

Mary Ann's love of colors and movement was reflected in her art work and the decoration of her home with art. She constantly changed the furniture around in the house in order to set off a new picture or art object that she had acquired, usually at a thrift store or a yard sale. Mary Ann enjoyed cars and it was a standing joke that when her husband would leave town for a business meeting, upon return he would be asked by his colleagues, "What kind of car did Mary Ann buy this time while you were gone?"  Mary Ann cringed at being called a good pool player, but she looked forward to playing pool with her friends. She even had her own pool stick and case which she had found while scrounging at a second hand store.

Being a mountain climber, I know that a climber never hikes straight to the top of the mountain. Climbing a mountain, the climber traverses incredibly difficult terrain before reaching a place on the mountain that affords a grand view of the world below him. Deciding to continue climbing, the climber again continues the difficult trek across and up rugged rocks and across snowfields or glaciers in order to gain altitude to the next glorious view. I have spent many years with my beautiful Mary Ann as my magnificent climbing partner. Our journey up the mountain has included the bushwhacking that comes with life, and we always reached the next incredible outlook. Some people may see this time in our life as a time when we are crossing a painful, difficult mountain crevasse; au contraire, we have reached a ledge where we can enjoy a beautiful view of life together.

A good mountain climber never climbs a mountain alone. I can assure everyone who is concerned about my well-being. I am very well and still climbing the mountain with my climbing partner. We're tied-in on our climbing rope as we continue our climb. Some day I will top out on the mountain. When I've have reached the top, we will sit together and enjoy eating an orange (a climbers' custom celebrating having reached the top).  Mary Ann leaves all of her family and friends with an abundance of Peace, Joy, and Love.  Corbeill Funeral Home of Pullman, WA has been entrusted with arrangements.