Mary King, age 88, of Wheaton, IL, beloved wife of the late Robert; dear mother of Richard (Helen), Robert Jr. (Margaret), the late Charles, Maureen (Donald) McGuire, and Diane (Glenn) LaFave; proud grandmother of John, Colleen (Erik) Jackson, Elizabeth (Steven) Forstneger, Heather (Christopher) Brockway, Meghan McGuire, James, and Allison Carroll; great-grandmother of five; daughter of the late Adolph and the late Florence "Anna" Dick, nee Meyer; sister of Roger (Marian) Dick, and the late John Dick; and sister-in-law of Andre Dick. Born, Nov. 20, 1922 in Middleton, WI, she died Fri., Nov. 26, 2010 at home.

Mary loved music, and whenever you visited her, the house was usually quiet except for the sounds of classical music coming from the radio in her kitchen. Over the years she would also occasionally play on her baby-grand piano at home.

She loved art and she also loved history. She still had her "dog-eared" Art History book from college, which she would pull out whenever someone she knew was going to Europe, or if they were just going to the Art Institute downtown. She also loved to watch the History Channel and to discuss the nuances of historical events. Even though she had lived through World War II, she often exclaimed about how much she has continued to learn about it.

Over the years, she always maintained her physical fitness, and she continued to swim at the Wheaton Sports Center almost every day up until just a couple of years ago.

Although she did not do very much "fancy" cooking in her later years, she was always considered to be an excellent cook in the family. Her recipes for things such as Italian Meat Sauce are still being used by family members (She did continue to barbeque outdoors in all kinds of weather right up until her final days).

She loved animals. The first family pet (while the family lived in Chicago) was a stray cat that she named "Eureka". She explained to the children that the name meant "I found it" ("Eureka" only stayed around a few days and then moved on, but the vocabulary word learning experience endured).

Once the family moved to Wheaton, there was always a dog in the house, for which she was the primary care taker. She especially loved her dear German shepherd dog, Greta, who was her close companion around the house during her last years.

A memorial visitation will be held on Friday, December 3, from 9:30 a.m. until the time of a memorial Mass to be held at 10:00 a.m. at St. Michael Catholic Church, 310 S. Wheaton Ave., Wheaton, IL 60187. Private interment, St. Michael Cemetery in Wheaton, IL.

Memorial gifts may be directed to the non-profit, family counseling and service agency Family Shelter Service, 605 E. Roosevelt Rd, Wheaton, IL 60187, 630-221-8290, www.familyshelterservice.org.