Mary Elyn Pierce

Mary Elyn Pierce, 92, of Mankato, died September 30, 2026, at Generations Child & Memory Care with her three children and daughter-in-law by her side in her final hours.

A memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, October 17, 2026, at Northview-North Mankato Mortuary, 2060 Commerce Dr., North Mankato, Minnesota, with visitation one hour prior to the service. Burial will be at Beauford Oak Hill Cemetery. The family prefers memorials be given to Generations Child & Memory Care for the benefit of staff, or the American Cancer Society. Mary Elyn’s family is grateful to so many people who helped enrich her twilight years, especially the caring staffs of Generations Child & Memory Care and St. Croix Hospice, and Season Hoffman, NP and Dr. Suresh Devineni of Mankato Clinic. Please share a memory of Mary Elyn at www.mankatomortuary.com.

Mary Elyn was born November 20th, 1933, in Lake Park, Iowa, to Mary Elsie (Goyette) Peters and Julius Nicholas “Buster” Peters. Her parents were of German, Danish, and French heritage, and made their living running their hardware store in nearby Lakefield, Minnesota, where Mary Elyn grew up one block from "up town". She graduated from Lakefield High School in 1951 where she was active in drama, choir, band, school newspaper, and yearbooks. After high school she moved to Mankato to attend Mankato State Teachers College where she studied elementary education and drama, appeared in several plays, and worked part time at Brett's Department Store. In 1954 Mary Elyn began her first kindergarten teaching position at North Mankato Elementary School. 1955 was a big year for Mary Elyn when she was crowned Miss Mankato and met her future husband Lynn, who was the student chairman of the Mankato State homecoming parade where she rode on a float. Mary Elyn and Lynn were married in January of 1956, and they immediately moved to the Los Angeles area for teaching positions and to try the west coast lifestyle. They returned to Mankato later that year, and their first child was born in December of 1956. She completed her Bachelor of Science degree with honors in elementary education from Mankato State College in 1959. Mary Elyn raised her three children in west Mankato and when her youngest was in school she went back to work, first as a part-time early childhood education coordinator, and then as a kindergarten teacher at Holy Rosary School in North Mankato. She eventually returned to the public school system as a kindergarten teacher at Monroe Elementary School in North Mankato. Mary Elyn retired from teaching in 1997. With so many alumni of her kindergarten classes in the Mankato area over the decades, Mary Elyn and her family have heard countless compliments and fond memories from former students and their parents.

After she retired, Mary Elyn and Lynn bought a cottage on Spirit Lake, Iowa, in the Okoboji lakes area near where she was born. She and Lynn spent the next two decades splitting time between their home in Mankato and their lake cottage, cooking, gardening, reading, volunteering at the Blue Earth County Library, traveling, watching movies, visiting and hosting their three adult children, and spoiling their five grandchildren. No longer occupied with weekly lesson and activity planning for her classroom, retirement was when Mary Elyn really honed her skills as a clothes shopper! In 2019 Mary Elyn and Lynn finally gave up the rigors of living in their own home and moved into The Pillars of Mankato. Lynn passed away in 2021, after 65 years of marriage. In 2024 she moved into Generations Child & Memory Care in Mankato. Among the many fond memories her children and grandchildren will cherish forever are the feasts she orchestrated, her bright eyes, and her ageless smile.

Mary Elyn is survived by her children, Clay (Ann) Pierce of Ames, Iowa; Mary Julie Pierce of Mankato; and Anna (Doug) Dorn of Holland, Michigan; grandchildren Sophie and Brian Pierce, Charlie and Nick Dorn, and Claire Black; sister-in-law Jean Peters; and 10 nieces and nephews.

Mary Elyn was preceded in death by her husband, Lynn; parents, Mary and Julius Peters; brother, Robert Peters; and sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Kathryn and Dewayne Ireland.