Obituary for Mary Tobin
MARY FRANCES SERVATIUS TOBIN
December 23, 1928-February 11, 2020
Mary Frances Servatius was born in Vernon, Texas on December 23, 1928 to Clara and William Servatius. She died as Mary Tobin, the wife of Jack Tobin, in Quincy, Washington, on February 11, 2020, not long after celebrating her 70th wedding anniversary and her 91st birthday. As she neared death, she was accompanied by her husband and her seven children.
Mary was born the sixth child in a farm family of eight children, four daughters and four sons. Since she was born near the beginning of the Depression and the start of the Dust Bowl, Mary and her siblings often worked on the farm, weeding the fields and picking cotton, all by hand.
She graduated from Anton High School in 1946. She then attended the Texas Tech secretarial school in Lubbock. Soon after, her parents sold their property in Texas and moved north to Clarkston, Washington with three of their younger children. Mary was working in Lubbock at an insurance company at the time, but soon quit her job to join her parents in Clarkston. She then was hired as a secretary for the main office of the Potlatch Forests Corporation, in nearby Lewiston, Idaho. Among her duties were taking shorthand dictation for one of the company's executives.
While working for Potlatch, Mary's future husband, Jack Tobin, attended the University of Idaho (in Moscow, Idaho) on the GI Bill. Jack met Mary at a dance hall in Lewiston where the secretaries and college boys danced to Big Band music and bought beer for 10 cents a glass. Jack and Mary instantly clicked; they got along well and shared the Catholic faith. After dating for a little more than a year, they decided to marry.
They wed on November 25, 1949 in Clarkston, in the same church where Jack's parents had married and her grandparents were buried. Since Jack was still in college, they moved to Moscow, but when his mother died, the couple decided to help his father on his farm in the Culdesac area of Idaho. Their baby daughter, Janis, was born in December 1950. Eventually, Jack trained at a technical college in Chicago and then started work for electrical contractors in Orofino and Lewiston.
Because Jack wanted to start his own electrical contracting business in a small farm town, the young couple moved with their three young children to Quincy in January 1955. Mary was busy mothering, but also handled accounts and otherwise served as a partner to Jack in the new business, Tobin Electric. She also started early as a volunteer for St. Pius X Catholic Church's Altar Society, often organizing the group's rummage sales and harvest dinners.
Over time, Mary and Jack had seven children. Mary actively cared for her family, cheering her children at their athletic events while supporting Tobin Electric, continuing to serve her church, and assisting the Quincy community, including its Food Bank. She enjoyed playing bridge, growing flowers---especially roses---and making quilts. She and Jack also traveled to Hawaii, Canada and Mexico, various sites in western and Eastern Europe, as well as Brazil.
In her old age, Mary lived in the Cambridge assisted-living community, where she was served with caring and devoted assistance by her family and the Cambridge staff.
She was pre-deceased by her sisters Ethel Brannon and Dorothy DuChemin, and by her brothers, Harold, Bob, and Fred Servatius.
She is survived by her husband, Jack Tobin, as well as her sister, Anna Jo Thomas, and her brother, Ray Servatius. In addition, she leaves her seven children and their spouses: Janis and Dunbar S. Carpenter (Portland OR), James and Tenley Tobin (Seattle WA), Christine and John Evenson (Wenatchee WA), Patrick and Kathy Tobin (Quincy WA), Debra and Anthony DiTommaso (Wenatchee WA), Jacqueline and Paul Alvernaz (Kent WA), and Gregory and Leslie Tobin (Quincy WA), as well as 21 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren.
Holy rosary will be recited at 5:30 pm on Monday, February 17, 2020 at St. Pius X Catholic Church, Quincy, WA. Mass of the Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:00 am on Tuesday, February 18th also at St. Pius X Catholic Church, 805 Central Ave N., Quincy, WA. Burial will follow at 1:15 pm at the Quincy Valley Cemetery.
Please leave a memory for the family or sign their online guestbook at www.scharbachs.com. Scharbach’s Columbia Funeral Chapel, Quincy, is assisting the family with funeral arrangements.
December 23, 1928-February 11, 2020
Mary Frances Servatius was born in Vernon, Texas on December 23, 1928 to Clara and William Servatius. She died as Mary Tobin, the wife of Jack Tobin, in Quincy, Washington, on February 11, 2020, not long after celebrating her 70th wedding anniversary and her 91st birthday. As she neared death, she was accompanied by her husband and her seven children.
Mary was born the sixth child in a farm family of eight children, four daughters and four sons. Since she was born near the beginning of the Depression and the start of the Dust Bowl, Mary and her siblings often worked on the farm, weeding the fields and picking cotton, all by hand.
She graduated from Anton High School in 1946. She then attended the Texas Tech secretarial school in Lubbock. Soon after, her parents sold their property in Texas and moved north to Clarkston, Washington with three of their younger children. Mary was working in Lubbock at an insurance company at the time, but soon quit her job to join her parents in Clarkston. She then was hired as a secretary for the main office of the Potlatch Forests Corporation, in nearby Lewiston, Idaho. Among her duties were taking shorthand dictation for one of the company's executives.
While working for Potlatch, Mary's future husband, Jack Tobin, attended the University of Idaho (in Moscow, Idaho) on the GI Bill. Jack met Mary at a dance hall in Lewiston where the secretaries and college boys danced to Big Band music and bought beer for 10 cents a glass. Jack and Mary instantly clicked; they got along well and shared the Catholic faith. After dating for a little more than a year, they decided to marry.
They wed on November 25, 1949 in Clarkston, in the same church where Jack's parents had married and her grandparents were buried. Since Jack was still in college, they moved to Moscow, but when his mother died, the couple decided to help his father on his farm in the Culdesac area of Idaho. Their baby daughter, Janis, was born in December 1950. Eventually, Jack trained at a technical college in Chicago and then started work for electrical contractors in Orofino and Lewiston.
Because Jack wanted to start his own electrical contracting business in a small farm town, the young couple moved with their three young children to Quincy in January 1955. Mary was busy mothering, but also handled accounts and otherwise served as a partner to Jack in the new business, Tobin Electric. She also started early as a volunteer for St. Pius X Catholic Church's Altar Society, often organizing the group's rummage sales and harvest dinners.
Over time, Mary and Jack had seven children. Mary actively cared for her family, cheering her children at their athletic events while supporting Tobin Electric, continuing to serve her church, and assisting the Quincy community, including its Food Bank. She enjoyed playing bridge, growing flowers---especially roses---and making quilts. She and Jack also traveled to Hawaii, Canada and Mexico, various sites in western and Eastern Europe, as well as Brazil.
In her old age, Mary lived in the Cambridge assisted-living community, where she was served with caring and devoted assistance by her family and the Cambridge staff.
She was pre-deceased by her sisters Ethel Brannon and Dorothy DuChemin, and by her brothers, Harold, Bob, and Fred Servatius.
She is survived by her husband, Jack Tobin, as well as her sister, Anna Jo Thomas, and her brother, Ray Servatius. In addition, she leaves her seven children and their spouses: Janis and Dunbar S. Carpenter (Portland OR), James and Tenley Tobin (Seattle WA), Christine and John Evenson (Wenatchee WA), Patrick and Kathy Tobin (Quincy WA), Debra and Anthony DiTommaso (Wenatchee WA), Jacqueline and Paul Alvernaz (Kent WA), and Gregory and Leslie Tobin (Quincy WA), as well as 21 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren.
Holy rosary will be recited at 5:30 pm on Monday, February 17, 2020 at St. Pius X Catholic Church, Quincy, WA. Mass of the Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:00 am on Tuesday, February 18th also at St. Pius X Catholic Church, 805 Central Ave N., Quincy, WA. Burial will follow at 1:15 pm at the Quincy Valley Cemetery.
Please leave a memory for the family or sign their online guestbook at www.scharbachs.com. Scharbach’s Columbia Funeral Chapel, Quincy, is assisting the family with funeral arrangements.