Mary Lou Stonecipher

Mary Lou Stonecipher died in her Bloomington home September 19th, surrounded by friends and family who loved her dearly, after a quick and intense battle with late-discovered lung cancer. She was 61, five days short of her birthday. Lou was born in Olney, Illinois, in 1949 and grew up primarily in Evansville and Indianapolis. She attended the University of Chicago and Indiana University in Bloomington, plus one semester of law school, which was more than enough for her. She loved this town and began working for the City of Bloomington in 1973. She remained a City employee until her death; her position was a systems analyst. Her parents, Ross Irwin Stonecipher of Marion County, Illinois, and Mary (Gassmann) Stonecipher of Olney, Illinois, predeceased her. She is survived by her best friends, Susie Johnson and Sarah Schwartzel, both of Bloomington, her older brother, Tom Stonecipher, and his wife, Deborah, of Bozeman, Montana, and her younger sister, Jane Stonecipher, and her husband, John Lusky, of Portland, Oregon. She leaves behind her favorite niece, Hadley Stonecipher, and her husband, Mario Eduardo Hernandez Soto. Lou and her siblings were and are Hoosiers all, regardless of how far some might have roamed. Lou was a modest and private person, not given to puffery or self-aggrandizement. She was fiercely loyal and loving to those within her circle; those lucky enough to be in it all returned that love. She didn't suffer fools well and, especially in her later years, usually didn't do what she didn't want to do. No one held that against her - most just smiled and loved her all the more for it. She was courageous in all her affairs, right up to her death after a hard struggle and with little time to prepare for it. A memorial will be held in her home at 608 W. Fourth Street on this coming Thursday, September 22, from 5 to 7:30 p.m., with a recounting and remembrance of her by those in attendance starting at 6:00 p.m. Lou loved the outdoors, and kindness in all its manifestations. Memorials can be made in her name to the Hoosier Hills Food Bank, 2333 W. Industrial Park Dr., Bloomington, IN 47404and to Bloomington Hospital Home Health & Hospice, 619 West First St., Bloomington, IN 47403

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Mary Lou Stonecipher

September 24, 1949 - September 19, 2011