Mary Konz Maida died Friday, Sept. 23, 2022, at her Little Canada, Minn., home, surrounded by her family. She was diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer in November 2020. Mary has donated her body to further research at the University of Minnesota as part of the Medical School’s Anatomy Bequest program.
A Celebration of Mary’s Life will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, Oct 7, at Saint John’s Catholic Church of Little Canada (380 Little Canada Rd. E.). Visitation will begin at 10 a.m., and lunch will be served after the service at the Double Tree by Hilton in Roseville. Burial will be at a later date in the St. John’s Cemetery in Little Canada.
Mary was born June 22, 1957, in St. Cloud to the late Arnold and Margaret (Mische) Konz. She grew up in the small town of Kimball, raised on a dairy farm with her siblings, graduating from Kimball Area High School and later from The College of St. Catherine. She loved her family immensely, and enjoyed being a mom to her two children, Mike and Maddi, and being a life partner and best friend to Thomas her husband. She was proud to be a working mom, spending the majority of her career in information and knowledge management at Medtronic.
Mary’s favorite ways to spend time were with her family, traveling, the arts, music, and gardening. She valued kindness, creativity, hard work, and curiosity. Over the years, she volunteered as a singer in church, Faith Formation council, election phone banking, and youth religion teacher, and she wanted to do so much more in her life.
Mary was preceded in death by her parents Arnold and Marge Konz.
She is survived by her husband Thomas Maida of Little Canada; son Mike Muscala of Oklahoma City, Okla., (born to Mary and Bob Muscala during her first marriage) and daughter Madeline Maida of Little Canada; and siblings Anita of Colorado, Mike of Minnesota, Amy of Montana, and Jane of South Dakota.
There’s no need for memorial donations but, if you wish, please make contributions in Mary’s name to MOCA, the Minnesota Ovarian Cancer Association, https://mnovarian.org/, where she raised money for further research, or to Second Harvest, 2harvest.org, as hunger was one of Mary’s focuses, contributing to local needs especially.
Mary left us this message: “I have so loved this beautiful life but, most of all, I’ve deeply loved my family who mean the world to me, and my dear friends and colleagues. You have made life meaningful. I wish I could have stayed longer. Carpe diem!”