MARY LEE NUXOLL

Mary Eileen (Mary Lee) (Toepel) Nuxoll passed away at her Henderson House home in Colfax on Wednesday, March 29, 2017. Rosary will be prayed at 5:00 p.m. Tuesday at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Colfax, with Mass of Christian Burial at 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, also at St. Patrick's, and vault interment at the Colfax Cemetery. Lunch in the parish hall will follow the burial. Friends may call and pay their respects at Bruning Funeral Home Monday from 9:00 to 5:00 and Tuesday from 9:00 to 3:00.
She was born to Leo J. and Margaret (Morrison) Toepel on September 26, 1935, in Spokane. A graduate of St. Aloysius School and Holy Names Academy, she attended Gonzaga University and worked for Father Art "Mr. Gonzaga" Dussault. The Toepels' summer trips to Priest Lake, Idaho, began a tradition she left her own family, though not her father's love of fishing and even less for seafood. She was proud of her Irish heritage, regularly hosting St. Patrick's Day parties. This did not prevent her husband from frequently pointing out that she was also part German.
In 1962, she married Wesley Nuxoll, whom she met at her sister Mary Anne's wedding, and moved to Colfax where they raised a family of four children. It is a measure of her life that friends, in a faith-sharing group, had cited her as an example of service just moments before word came of her passing. Whether supporting her widowed mother, organizing a St. Al's school reunion, hosting wedding showers, receptions, birthday parties and luncheons, remembering former Blue Birds, or gathering with Schweitzer snow bunnies, she consistently gave and helped. Her phone rang constantly, slot machines less so. After she moved into assisted living, her life reaped regular visits from friends and family, as well as new neighbors who remarked on her good heart even as she became less able to express herself.
In the absence of a preschool at the time, she helped start the Colfax Cooperative Preschool on Meadow Street in 1968-69. She was a den mother for Cub Scouts and Blue Birds, a room mother at Jennings Elementary and taught Sunday school at St. Patrick's, where she also was a member of the altar society, parish council and Catholic Daughters, including regent (president). She participated in Athenaeum Club and was active with Friends In Service to Humanity (FISH), delivering meals on wheels to the homebound or food to new families in the area. She later helped manage the community food bank when it was at St. Patrick's.
After several years judging youth art entries at the Palouse Empire Fair, she felt that local artists needed a place to display their works and so in 1989 established and was heavily involved in the operation of Our Town Gallery, a cooperative venture. Later she had the opportunity to see the art of Italy when Wes taught at Gonzaga-in-Florence.
In 2003, Zeta Theta Beta Group named her Colfax Woman of the Year.
With her passing, she rejoins her husband of 54 years, Wes; her parents; and her sister Mary Anne Hartinger. She is survived by four children: Jon, of Eugene; Jim (Allison), of Boise; Jane Roberts (Matt) of Colorado Springs, Colo.; and Jan Owen (Jeff) of Spokane; and their grandchildren, Lexi Vandrey, Olivia Nuxoll, Ellen Roberts, Annie Roberts, Meg Roberts, Nathan Owen and Emma Owen.
The family suggests memorials be to the Alzheimer's Association, Spokane chapter, 1403 S Grand Blvd #202, Spokane, WA 99203 or the Toepel Family Memorial Scholarship at Gonzaga University (Attention: Heidi Wohl), 502 East Boone Avenue, Spokane 99258. On-line guest book is at www.bruningfuneralhome.com
Bruning Funeral Home of Colfax has been entrusted with funeral arrangements.