Mary Lou McKenzie Hitch, 98, of Pullman passed away at the Bishop Care Memory Villas on Saturday June 27, 2013. A memorial service will be held Saturday, August 10th at 2pm at Bishop Place, Social Room, Independent Living Apartments, 811 SE Klemgard.

Mary Lou was born into the McKenzie family in 1915 in Goderich, Ontario, Canada, the 4th of 5 children. Her mother was a midwife and seamstress and her father a "jack of all trades" including lumber jack and under-water welder. Mary Lou's family had a large garden and grew much of their food, sharing it during the depression with men who passed by on the train looking for employment. An accomplished pianist, Mary Lou received a diploma from the Toronto Conservancy of Music. The family spent many years in Leamington, Ontario where Mary Lou taught piano and held different positions at the Heinz Canning Company. She attended the First Baptist Church of Leamington where she met her future husband, Charles Edward "Ed" Hitch. As she fondly remembered to family, when Mary Lou was 12 and Ed was 17, she saw him walk into the church and whispered to a girlfriend: "That's the man I'm going to marry." Marry him she did, 15 years later, in 1942.

After their marriage, Ed and Mary Lou moved to Detroit, Michigan, where Ed worked for the Lamb Tool and Die Company, and their son Keith and daughter Mary Ann were born. Mary Lou was an accomplished mother and homemaker. She shared her musical talents through volunteer activities, such as providing piano accompaniment to the civic choir, the "Mother Singers."

Following retirement in 1974, Mary Lou and Ed moved to Sun City, AZ. There Mary Lou attended the First Presbyterian Church, and was active in their hand bell choirs. She continued to volunteer, bringing groceries to the homebound and visiting with the elderly. She and Ed enjoyed travelling until his health no longer permitted it. Mary Lou's faithful love, care, and devotion to Ed during his almost 20 years with Parkinson's disease were an inspiration. He died in 1995.

After Ed's death, Mary Lou took many trips with family, in this country and abroad, and remained active and independent, hiring a personal trainer at the age of 90. She moved to Bishop Place in Pullman in 2007 to be closer to her family. There Mary Lou endeared herself to residents and staff alike, maintaining her feisty, fun-loving and sometimes mischievous spirit until the end of her life.

Mary Lou was a thoughtful and loving person, generous and kind to others. She made friends wherever she went, whether they spoke the same language or not, and appreciated the small pleasures of life. She had a wonderful sense of humor, an easy laugh, and was always up for an adventure. A lifelong learner, Mary Lou taught herself French, art history and to play the organ. She read all of the Newberry Award children's literature so she could converse with her grandchildren. As a grandmother and great-grandmother, Mary Lou had unending patience and capacity for play, and could make even the dullest of circumstances into an opportunity for fun.

Mary Lou is survived by her son and daughter in law, Keith and Elizabeth Hitch, her daughter and son in law, MaryAnn and Karl Boehmke, four grand-daughters, and four great-grandchildren.
Memorial donations may be sent to: Sunshine Service, Inc (lends medical equipment to the elderly) 9980 Santa Fe Dr., Sun City, AZ 85351, or to your favorite public library for children's books.