Obituary of Mary Moulds

Mary Virginia (Wolf) Moulds, former longtime Hutchinson resident, Mary V. Moulds, passed from this world into the next at her home in Tucson, Arizona, on June 7, 2010. Mary was born at her parent’s home in Ponca City, Oklahoma, on December 23, 1920, to Homer Henry Wolf and Drucella Lee (Graham) Wolf. Her parents preceded her in death. Mary’s parents moved to rural Sedgwick County, Kansas where she and her sisters were raised at her father and mother’s gas station and farm on Highway 81 south of Newton, Kansas. Mary attended Doty School (a one-room school) in rural Harvey County. She graduated from Sedgwick Senior High School, Sedgwick Kansas and attended El Dorado Junior College, El Dorado, Kansas. During World War II, Mary worked at Cessna Aircraft plant in Wichita, Kansas as a wing upholsterer. Mary left Cessna to marry U.S. Navy Electrician First Class John Joseph Moulds of Newton, Kansas. They were married September 25, 1943, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Newton, Kansas. With an honorable discharge from the Navy at the end of World War II, John and Mary settled in Abilene Kansas where he started work for Kansas Power and Light at the generating plant before transferring to the Hutchinson generating station. John and Mary lived in Hutchinson from 1950 to 2004. John retired as a senior foreman after 46 years of service to Kansas Power and Light (Western Resources). John preceded Mary in death on November 2, 2002. Mary moved to Tucson, Arizona in the fall of 2004 and suffered a stroke February 2005. Mary worked for several years in Hutchinson at St. Elizabeth Catholic Hospital in the admission office. During elections, she worked for the Reno County Election Board. Mary volunteered at the Mental Health Association Center of Reno County, the Red Cross, Meals On Wheels and R.S.V.P. Mary was a longtime member of Park Place Christian Church, in Hutchinson, a member of Park Place Christian Woman’s Fellowship, Church Women United, and the Mother’s Club, all in Hutchinson. Mary was a 32 year member of the American Legion Ladies Auxiliary, Unit 68, in Hutchinson and a lifetime member of the Ladies Auxiliary of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 971, in Newton Kansas. Mary had duel membership in two chapters of the Order of the Eastern Star; Silverleaf Chapter # 464 in Hutchinson Kansas and Constellation Chapter #476 in Wichita, Kansas. Mary and John had three children, Mary Ann (Moulds) Aldrich (Maricopa, Arizona), Michael Joseph Moulds (Collinsville, Illinois) and Nancy Jane (Moulds) Niemeir (Tucson, Arizona). All of the children and their spouses survive. Mary is survived by four granddaughters and two grandsons, four great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews. Mary is also survived by her two sisters: Kathryn Lee (Wolf)Cannon of Wichita, Kansas and Charlotte Rose (Wolf) Crawford of Sedelia, Missouri. A memorial service is being planned for October in Hutchinson, Kansas with inurnment of the ashes to be at St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery in Newton, Kansas, following the service. Date and time will be announced at a later date. The family requests memorials for Mary to be sent to the Hutchinson Public Library in lieu of flowers.