Mary Sievers

Mary Barrie Sievers, 92, of Pocatello, Idaho, passed away on Friday, April 6, 2012. She was born January 17, 1920 at Ucon, Idaho. She, along with her two older brothers, Andrew and James, were born to Arch and Esther Ritchie Barrie. She grew up on the family farm and wrote that her parents "were kind and loving parents and the farm was a good place to live and grow up." When Mary was nine years old, her Aunt Angie Ritchie Tracy died and one of her children, five-year-old Darrel, came to live with them. Darrel became a much-loved younger brother. She attended the little three-room country school in Milo for eight years and then attended high school in Ucon, graduating from Ucon High School. The friends she made there were life-long friends. On September 20, 1940, she married Francis (Frank) Harding Sievers, a neighbor she had known all her life. Their first home was in Pocatello. Just over a year after their marriage, World War II began and the life of every American changed, including Mary and Frank's life. Everyone wanted to get involved in the war and do what they could to help, so Frank enrolled in a machinist course at Idaho State University. When he had completed it, they moved to Bremerton, Washington where Frank worked in the shipyard there to help repair ships damaged at Pearl Harbor. Later he was transferred to San Diego and then to San Francisco. In 1944, he joined the Navy Seabees. Whenever Frank was transferred, Mary went with him and found work. She worked in the offices of the A.M. Castle Company in Seattle. When Frank was transferred to San Diego, she worked in the office of Armor and Company in San Diego and later for a company in San Francisco. The war was over in 1945. When Frank was discharged from the Navy a year later in 1946, they came back to Pocatello where Mary worked for the Idaho State Journal and later Phillips Petroleum Company. Frank worked for Clark Concrete, then began his own brick masonry business--Pocatello Masonry Company. He did the brick and stone work on businesses and homes all over Pocatello. Mary was a full partner in this business--taking care of payroll, taxes, errand-running and daily office responsibilities. They were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They were sealed in the Idaho Falls Temple on December 21, 1955. Whenever a friend or neighbor needed help, Mary and Frank were there to help. Mary was always gentle, good and kind. She served in Primary for many years, as counselor in several Relief Society presidencies, then as Relief Society president. They had one son, Dale Francis Sievers. Before Frank's death on October 20, 209, he wrote of Mary, "She has been and still is, the best wife a man could ever ask for." Mary was preceded in death by her husband, Francis (Frank), her parents, Arch and Esther Ritchie Barrie, her brothers, Andrew and James and her cousin, Darrel Vaughn Tracy, who grew up in her parents' home as another brother. She is survived by her son, Dale, and many caring nieces and nephews as well as the good neighbors they lived by for so many years. Special thanks go to her dedicated caregivers, Lola and Brittney Gentry, Kathy Perkins, wonderful neighbors Linda Crandall, Darlene Lott and many others, and especially Frank's nephew, Kenny Sievers, who, for years, has stopped in almost daily to help in any way he could. As Mary and Frank's health declined, Kenny's assistance was increasingly needed and appreciated. Services will be at the LDS 26th Ward on Hawthorne and Eldridge (Pocatello West Stake Center) at 11 a.m. on Monday, April 9. The family will meet with friends Monday from 9:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. prior to the services. Burial will be at the Ucon Cemetery.