Mary Ellen Christopher (Linderbaum), very patient wife of the late Bruce Christopher, passed away at the Ossian Care Center in Ossian, Iowa on November 21st, 2025, surrounded by her loving family.

Memorial service will be held at 5:00 p.m. on Monday, December 29, 2025, at Helms Funeral Home, 306 E Water St., Decorah, Iowa, with a meal to follow. Burial will be at a later date in Saint Francis de Sales Catholic Cemetery.

Visitation will be from 4:00 p.m. until the start of the service on Monday evening at the funeral home.

Following the memorial service, there will be a gathering full of food, stories, and probably some joke-telling —just the way Mary liked it. With how much Mary Ellen loved Christmastime, please honor her by wearing your favorite Christmas shirt, sweater, or red/green attire.

Mary Ellen and Bruce loved to support causes dear to them. In lieu of flowers, donations made will support their grandkids music and athletics at their respective schools: Nashua-Plainfield Music and Athletic Booster Clubs and Granville Tennis Club and Athletic Boosters.

Born on June 11th, 1947, in Decorah, Iowa to the late Walter and Esther Linderbaum, Mary was the fourth of five children. She attended De Sales High School in Ossian, IA, where she was involved with cheerleading and music. Following her high school graduation, Mary attended Viterbo College where she received her degree in education. Upon graduating from Viterbo, Mary spent her first years teaching in Cedar Rapids. During this time, she met the love of her life, Bruce, through a blind date set up by her brother Jerry Linderbaum and sister-in-law Linda, and Bruce’s sister Dale Bradshaw and her husband Jim, who all taught together at Solon schools.

Mary and Bruce were married on June 24, 1972, and later settled in Decorah, where they raised their three children—Jill, Charles, and Jenni. Mary taught for the Decorah school system for nearly forty years, creating elaborate bulletin boards, forging lifelong bonds with colleagues, and consuming more candy bars “for the band fundraiser” than any teacher before or after her.

Mary and Bruce were inseparable. They did life as a team… unless Mary got tired of waiting for Bruce to get ready, which was often. (If you knew Bruce, you understand why.) They were devoted parents who never missed a single event—not even the ones they arrived at an hour late in the legendary red Dodge minivan. Everyone knew the Christophers had arrived when that van pulled up… eventually.

Mary and Bruce were ever present parents, often sacrificing their own comfort and needs for that of their children. For her kids growing up, Mary Ellen was always the go-to parent for a pep talk when they needed it. She loved a good proverb, but probably one of her favorites to say was Que Sera Sera which during her later years was simplified into the phrase of “It is what it is” (iykyk).

Mary Ellen was a natural life of the party who loved her get-togethers with family and friends, especially her teacher friends. She loved to visit with people. In fact, whenever Mary Ellen was visiting with someone, it usually meant that she was also talking to the people that were in any room in the surrounding vicinity as well, because her voice carried effortlessly throughout the house or down the halls of her school.

She had a penchant for her joke telling and more often than not, the kind of jokes that couldn’t be said in front of the kids. She would, however, have all of the adults doubled over with laughter.

Because flying was not on her list of approved activities, Mary and Bruce drove everywhere, and by the time it was time to upgrade to a new red minivan, the old one had seen more of America than most tour guides. They made countless trips east to visit family in Massachusetts, South Carolina and beyond. She loved family vacations on the east coast and spending time with the Christopher side. When her daughter moved to Ohio, coworkers joked that Mary and Bruce—who lived half a country away—visited more than their own parents who lived two hours down the road.

Mary dreamed of being a grandma long before her kids dreamed of being parents. She collected baby clothes years in advance—just in case. Her heart exploded in 2009 when her first grandson was born, and her grandkids quickly became her greatest joy.

Mary created so many memorable family moments that it would rival a library. As Mary liked to say—“to make a short story long…” here are a few favorites:

○ Her high-school cheerleading days with her future sister-in-law, complete with a fully revived “Choo-Choo-Cha-Cha” many years later

○ The Nantucket moped trip where she had to hop off at the bottom of hills so Bruce could coax the moped upward

○ Mary’s homemade, elaborate Halloween costumes to always compete at the parade, Christmas fudge and popcorn balls, cupcake treats for holidays at school

○ All of the family vacations out to Massachusetts to see Ma and DeeDee, Bruce’s siblings and their families (Clam boils, Martha’s Vineyard, playing volleyball at Jimmy and Dale’s, Black Dog shirts, going out to pull lobster pots with Uncle Jim, visiting Boston with Uncle Billy and so many more.)

○ Family Christmas videos of picking out the PERFECT tree for hours, dog treat pig ears, Rolo’s, stockings so filled with candy and fruit that they looked like real feet, Donald Duck quacks and all of our beloved pets Christy, Suzi, Curt the cat and Sammy.

○ Visiting Washington D.C., Cooperstown, Cheers in Boston (Whoopie), South Dakota, Wisconsin Dells (and the orange swim trunks), Green Bay and Lambeau field (and the “it’s cold out here” guy), Costa Rica (and traveling to Montezuma and Tortuga Island with the wild pig nibbling Bruce’s leg, then later experiencing Montezuma’s revenge).

○ Mary Ellen shagging balls for hours while her kids had batting practice

○ Her love of Christmas and the Hallmark singing snowmen that Bruce would always buy. Mary would always go all out for Christmas.

○ Her love of swimming and the beach. Mary would talk about going to the Decorah pool on the bus as a kid from Ossian. Doing her famous swan dive at age 75—still nailing it

○ Supporting her kids throughout their band fundraisers by selling candy bars (Mary herself usually bought and ate most of them)

○ Joining in with the family parade night when her kids would use wooden spoons and pots/pans as makeshift drums and lids as cymbals

○ Endless hours of watching her kids practice sports, even spending every Sunday traveling four hours to haul her daughter to a pitching clinic in Cedar Rapids.

○ On the rare days Mary was driving instead of Bruce, everyone instinctively would prepare for her signature arrival home hitting the driveway going a solid 20 mph with no slow down

○ Her flower garden and going out at dusk to dig ditch lilies. Then she griped for years that those "damn flowers" took over the garden

○ The hundreds of “projects” she always had for Bruce that of course were never completed

○ Traveling to southern Spain along with Bruce, her sister Janet, Bruce’s brother, sister, sister-in-law and nephew for her youngest daughter’s wedding where she met her future son-in-law’s family. Visiting many cities in Andalucía and even visiting Gibraltar with the monkeys and in Granada opening up her wallet for the pickpockets.

○ Music woven into every part of family life and how the Linderbaum sisters (Janet, Mary Ellen and Debby) would always entertain the family with music on the organ, piano and their voices.

○ Deeney noses, ice skating, sloppy joes, making bread with Gert, charm bracelets, dressing up as Mrs. Claus, yelling at Bruce about his speeding, talking up the used Plymouth reliant they bought for their oldest daughter describing it as “sporty”, the list could go on and on.

Reflecting on Mary’s life, one theme stands out: presence. She showed up. Loudly, lovingly, and wholeheartedly—for her kids, her family, her friends, her students, and anyone lucky enough to be in her orbit. Her presence will continue to be with us—in our stories, in our laughter, and in every memory she made sure we had.

She will be so dearly missed by so many.

Mary Ellen is survived by her children; Jill Kalvig and her husband Michael of Nashua, IA; Charles Christopher; Jenni and her husband Jose Aguayo of Granville, OH; six grandchildren: Christopher, Elizabeth, Adrienne and Andrew Kalvig; Walter and Genevieve Aguayo; sister Debby Scheidel and her husband Mike and sister-in-laws Linda Linderbaum, Nancy Lincoln, Dale Bradshaw and her husband Jim, Doris Merrill and her husband Stephen, and Chris Christopher. She also leaves behind many nieces, nephews, cousins, great nieces and nephews and their families as well as her many friends that she considered family. She was predeceased by her husband, Bruce; her parents Walter and Esther (Deeney) Linderbaum; sisters and brother, Janet, Karen and Jerry Linderbaum; father and mother-in-law Charles and Norma Christopher; brother-in-laws Charles “Billy” Christopher and Raymond Lincoln.

The family of Mary Ellen Christopher would especially like to thank the staff at the Ossian Care Center, Winneshiek Medical Center and St. Croix Hospice for their kindness, compassion and wonderful care given to Mary Ellen these past several years.