Mary Ann Hippler

Hippler, Mary Ann 70, found eternal peace May 5 at her Greenfield home after a long and courageous battle with cancer. She was born June 16, 1938, in Baraboo, WI, the oldest of four children of the late Albert and Agnes (Dwyer) Hippler. She graduated from Baraboo High School and the Milwaukee Business College. She worked for 39 years at Miller Brewing Co., in Milwaukee where she was a manager in export sales until her retirement in 1997. She received the Miller President’s Award in 1987 for excellence in performance of her duties. Mary was interested in all things Irish and volunteered at Milwaukee’s Irish Fest for many years, receiving the Wild Irish Rose award in 1977. She loved to travel, both in this country and Europe, and visited Ireland half a dozen times, often staying with friends there. She cared for her mother in her Milwaukee home for 13 years, and enabled her sister Jane to attend nursing school in Milwaukee by providing her a home during her schooling. She was very close to her much-loved nieces and nephews. She was an avid reader of all kinds of fiction and non-fiction. She also collected and read cookbooks from around the globe, as an adjunct to her hobby of cooking gourmet meals. She was a volunteer at Father Gene’s Help Center in Milwaukee for many years, and was a wonderful friend and helper to anyone who needed her assistance. She is survived by two sisters, Jane (Neil) Nilsson of Olympia, WA, and Sue (Jim) Ruhland of Madison; a brother, Greg, of Phoenix, AZ; four nieces, Theresa Hippler of Tucson, AZ, Amy Ruhland of Milwaukee, Emily Nilsson of Portland, OR, and Molly Niilsson of Oakland, CA; and four nephews, Jeff Hippler of Rice Lake, Greg Hippler Jr. of Tucson, AZ, Brent Ruhland of Madison, and Patrick Nilsson of Berkeley, CA, as well as many close friends. Visitation on Friday, May 8, 2009 from 9am to 10:30am at ST. ALPHONSUS CATHOLIC CHURCH, 6060 W. Loomis Road, Greendale with the Funeral Mass at 10:30am. Entombment Mt. Olivet Cemetery. Donations may be made in Mary's name to Horizon Hospice , 8949 N. Deerbrook Trail, Brown Deer, WI 53223, or the Irish Cultural and Heritage Center of Wisconsin, 2133 W. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53233.