Mary Louise (Risty) Datri, of Tucson, Arizona (formerly of Garretson, South Dakota and Eugene, Oregon), passed away suddenly and unexpectedly of a stroke on June 4, 2022, at the age of 95. Mary (known as “Weesie” to her five siblings) was born to Bertha Andrina (Stensland) and Gullick Theodore Risty in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on January 31, 1927, and grew up on a farm just outside of Garretson.
She attended Augustana College and Nettleton Business School in Sioux Falls, intending to become an accountant. However, her career plans were interrupted when she married Joseph Allen Datri in 1948, moved to Sioux City, Iowa, worked for Wincharger Company, and started a family! She, Joe, and their two kids made trips between Iowa and the west coast, and eventually moved "permanently" to Eugene, Oregon, about 1954.
Mary earned her Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Elementary Education and Special Education, respectively, from the University of Oregon. She taught first grade for several years, and then taught Primary Special Ed for several more years.
In 1975, Mary retired from teaching and moved with Joe to Tucson, Arizona, where she busied herself with gardening, her pets, and writing children's stories about the desert animals she observed from her living room windows. She also enjoyed making lamps from “interesting” bottles or other materials. She was an avid reader, and excelled at crossword puzzles and jigsaw puzzles. She enjoyed visiting with friends, relatives, her children and grandchildren, and eventually playing with her great-grandchildren.
Her husband, Joe, died in 2012, after nearly 65 years of marriage to Mary. She was also preceded in death by three sisters, Shirley (Risty) Williamson, Betsy (Risty) Shafer, Gertrude Ann (Risty) Waring, and her only brother, Austin Risty.
She is survived by her daughter Betsy Datri, her son Gary Datri, her step-daughter Leslie Van Drongelen; her grandchildren Daniele Ott, Angela Zaragoza, Amber Roche, Arlen Roche, Brian Eimstad, Lindsay Jenkins, Joseph Datri; several great-grandchildren; a sister Dorothy Risty-Schon; a cousin Bill Snyder; a sister-in-law Joyce (Benson) Risty, a brother-in law Bob Waring; and numerous nieces and nephews.
