Mary Elizabeth Erb Armfield

Mary Elizabeth Erb Armfield passed away on January 8, 2022. Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. at Hesston Mennonite Church Community Center on Wednesday, Jan 12 and there will be a memorial service at 11 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 13 also at Hesston Mennonite Church. Mary was born on March 6, 1928 to Abraham and Emma Troyer in Shickley, Nebraska. She was the sixth of 12 siblings. She attended Shickley High School, even spending some time at the Hesston Academy. She met Robert Erb at church, and the two began to court. In 1947, Mary was working for the Geneva Telephone Company, while dating Bob as he had returned from serving as a conscientious objector during WWII. They married in 1949. Bob was farming near Geneva, Nebraska when they welcomed into the family, their daughter Kathy in 1951. Son Jim followed in 1953 with final child Lori arriving in 1957. During this time, Mary became a stay at home mom, with a quarter of a mile walk to use the nearest telephone at the family’s dear friends, the Kimbroughs. The Erb family stayed on the farm from 1951-1965 when Bob decided it was time to either “get bigger or get out.” In Mary’s own words, she was a “bit of a baby” and wasn’t ready to leave. Bob wasn’t sure he wanted to stay a farmer so they shopped around different places to live. Having loved going to school in Hesston, friends suggested a move south to which Mary didn’t object. Bob made several trips to Hesston, calling Mary from a trip, telling her they were moving to Hesston. The family rented a small place outside of Hesston as Bob worked at the post office before making a transition to selling cars. In 1968, they built a house in Hesston which became a second home to many over the years. In 1971, a simple Thanksgiving dinner became a staple of tradition for the Erbs. Some of Kathy and her husband Sid’s college friends weren’t able to go home to celebrate the holiday and they were invited to dine with the Erb family so the “orphans” could have the feel of a family environment. For over 30 years, the Thanksgiving dinner numbered between 30 and 45 people with family and friends of all ages attending. Bob passed away in 2006 after a battle with cancer. Mary moved to the Schowalter Retirement Campus where she was happy, yet lonely. Mary met Bill Armfield at a grief support group in 2009 and the pair was soon inseparable. They were each a God-send to one another with the loneliness dissipating as they tied the knot in 2010. They reveled in family, they found excuses to turn mundane trips into day adventures and they enjoyed each other’s company. Mary was preceded in death by her parents, Abraham and Emma, husband Bob, son-in-law Sid Whitcher, five brothers (Glen, Les, Ivan, Harold and Jim Troyer) and two sisters (Loretta Troyer and Dorothy Schlegel). She is survived by her husband Bill and his son Doug (Teri) Armfield, brother Leonard Troyer, sisters Violet (Merrill) Stutzman, Eunice Stutzman and Betty Miller-Friesen, daughter Kathy Whitcher, son Jim (Jan) Erb and daughter Lori (John) Thimm, along with 10 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren. Memorials can be made to Dyck Arboretum in the form of checks payable to Dyck Arboretum sent to P.O. Box 3000, Hesston, KS, 67062 or by giving a memorial gift at www.dyckarboretum.org.

Mary Elizabeth Erb Armfield

March 6, 1928 - January 8, 2022