Mary Elizabeth was the youngest of Charles and Alice Reagan's five children (the others were all sons). She was born October 3, 1899 in Wadena County, Minnsota. Mary had an illness when she was very young, and as a result was mentally retarded from then on. While still quite young she had to be institutionalized, but she was brought home to visit often.
Iowa Institution for Feeble Minded Children
in Glenwood, Iowa, where Mary lived
She believed that she was away at school while in the institution and she seemed to like it better there than at home. Her parents often brought her home for visits but she was always anxious to get back to "school."
Mary was still living in Glenwood in March of 1939 when her father died (her mother had died five years earlier). She would have been almost forty years old at that time (though she had the mind of a young child). At some point after her father's death she apparently went to live in or near Humboldt, Iowa, as that is where she died (unmarried) in November, 1982 (It is not known by us what she died of, or whether she was still living in an institution, or with someone, or exactly where she lived). She was buried in Sacred Heart Cemetery in Fort Dodge, Iowa, where her brother Frank was buried in September, 1981. Her parents were buried in Corpus Christi Cemetery in Fort Dodge.
We have devoted extra space to Mary even though she is not our direct ancestor because as far as we know no one alive today knows anything about her life after her parents died, and we'd like to record all that we do know about her, for the benefit of descendants of her brothers (only two of whom had descendants). If anyone knows or finds out more about Mary's life, we would be very pleased and grateful to learn more about her.
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