Mary Roberta Mattingly

Mary Roberta (Wallace) Mattingly, 85, of Louisville, Kentucky passed away at home on Saturday, December 7, 2024. She was born on August 23, 1939, in Louisville, Kentucky to Lloyd Lee and Helen Grace (Brenzel) Wallace. 

Mary grew up in the Germantown neighborhood and graduated from Ursuline Academy. She met and married Kenny in 1961. After meeting Kenny, she enjoyed singing at the U.S.O. She was a skilled seamstress and often made clothes for her family and others. Mary was a stay-at-home loving mother to her four children (and many of the kids in the neighborhood) until 1976 when she went to work full-time at Chenoweth Elementary School (a walk away from home). She wore many hats in her 28 years at Chenoweth; office aid, attendance clerk, acted as the school nurse and lunchroom monitor for generations of children that would call out Mrs. Mattingly and run to her when they saw her long after retirement. She often chaperoned field trips and Girl Scout outings. She enjoyed monthly lunches with long-time coworkers and friends from Chenoweth until very recently. 

She was a 40+ year honorary member of Louisville Turners where she helped coach youth softball, pitched jarts, played tennis and volleyball. She also enjoyed bowling at Turners and later at Ten Pin Lanes with friends until she cleaned out her locker during the pandemic at age 80. She loved doing crafts of all kinds, she crocheted, knitted, and did ceramics with her sister and daughters for many years. If you find a finished piece in one of our houses, flip it over and look for MWM and a date. She loved and collected both owls and angels that watched over their home. 

She was preceded in death by her parents, her loving husband of 63 years Kenneth Paul Mattingly, sister Bunny Caldwell, brothers George, John, Jim and Mike Wallace.

She is survived by her brother, Pat Wallace (Bernadette); sisters, Ruth Frederick (Bill) and Dolly Gibson; children, Lori (Danny) Fusting, Julie (Anthony) Rich, Tammy (Dave) Hubbuch, Jeff Mattingly (Pam Steen), 9 grandchildren, 6 great-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews.

A memorial gathering will be from 4:00pm to 8:00pm with a brief prayer service around 7:30 pm on Thursday, January 2, 2025, at Newcomer East Chapel, 235 Juneau Drive, Louisville, KY, 40243. 

Private service and burial at Saint Michael’s cemetery in Louisville. 

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions in Mary’s memory be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, USO, Saint Vincent de Paul or Hosparus Health. 

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