Marian Rosemarie (Wiegle) Berry |
| Posted 2022-03-06 by mhenderson |
| Published by the Miner on March 5, 2022 - Kingman, Arizona - Marian Berry, born Aug. 11, 1929, better known as “Mudgie” to her friends (Austrian nickname), passed away in her sleep Feb.18, 2022. Beloved mother, sister, grandmother, aunt and friend to thousands that traveled Highway 93 through Wikieup, she was a coowner of The Wikieup Trading Post located halfway between Phoenix and Las Vegas. She came from humble beginnings, born in Iron Mountain, Michigan. where her Austrian parents came to work in the iron mines and start their family. Being raised a strict Catholic during the depression, she learned how to survive by working two jobs, and excelling in both as her energy level to work was incomprehensible! One of her jobs was at a record store where she met her future husband who came to buy records for the radio station that he worked for. They married and moved to Wellington, Kansas, where he was from, and had their first daughter Judy. Later they moved to Wichita where second daughter Teresa was born. Mudgie got a job and went to work when women didn’t really do that. It was at a busy drug store across from the local hospital where she worked her way up to manager and developed her sales skills. It was said that she could sell hair tonic to a bald person. Her marriage grew apart and she intoxicated a man that worshiped the ground she walked on. He was a self-made retired man that together with her would open an Indian Jewelry Store that had pottery, macramé, gifts and souvenirs from the Southwest. They made several trips to the reservations to trade their beautifully cut, ground and polished lapidary stones that they hand made for silverwork done by the Native American Indians while Teresa stayed home and ran the store. (ROLFE One-of-a-Kind Gifts) On one of their many trips to purchase raw turquoise they met a Wikieup local who became a friend who had a shared interest in mining, a dream both men had wanted to pursue for many years. Out of necessity, they also decided to buy and reopen the Trading Post that had been closed for a short time prior. For approximately 38 years Mudgie, Teresa, Judy and her husband Gary proceeded to operate it. Mudgie worked there until she was 87 years old, generously sharing her time with strangers from all over the world as they fell in love with her vibrant, loving and genuine personality. Together they managed to put The Wikieup Trading Post on the map creating a landmark with all the love that she had to give. A place where you would walk in as a customer, and leave with a new family. Mudgie is proceeded in death by her parents Agnes and Lewis Wiegle and her six siblings. She is survived by daughter Teresa Meireis, daughter and son-in-law Judy and Gary Hill, granddaughter Amy Meireis Boesdorfer and her husband Eric Bosedorfer and great grandchildren Eva and Ariana Meireis, Erica and Erin Boesdorfer and Lucas Meireis. The trading post burned to the ground May 23, 2021. Gone but not forgotten. One of her many customers had said “Mudgie’s charm lingers the air not only at the Trading Post on your travels. You will indeed have remembered her warm, loving and generous smile.” |
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