Mary Louise (Blake) [Stensrud] Clem

Mary Louise Blake Stensrud Clem died peacefully in her sleep in Snowflake, Arizona, April 8, 2015. She had recently celebrated her 105th birthday with family and friends at the Carriage House Assisted Living Home, where she spent the last five months of her life. Mary was born February 19, 1910 in San Anselmo, Marin County, California to Frank Bell and Minette (Crumbaker) Blake. She first came to Arizona in 1915 when her father worked for the Reclamation Service in Yuma and they lived in the old military barracks on the Colorado River at Yuma Crossing. A few years later the family moved to her Grandfather's homestead, seven miles out of town where they built a home in the harsh desert and a ramada of palm leaves was their only cooling system. In 1920, at the age of ten, she went to live with her beloved Aunt Vannie high in the Mendocino mountains of northern California. They lived in a log cabin and her Aunt taught in a one room school house. The happiest years of Mary's life were the six years she spent wandering the wilderness above Dos Rios and the Eel River. When her Aunt contracted TB, they returned to Yuma. The homestead was purchased by the federal government and the family moved to San Diego where Mary graduated from Point Loma High School in 1927. She attended college for a year and then met Governor Stensrud, son of a prominent Norwegian San Diego businessman, and they were married in the midst of the depression on Sept. 9, 1929. Her daughter, Mary Louise, was born in 1932. The family lived in San Diego throughout the war years and Mary remembered the blackouts and the deportation of her Japanese neighbors. After the war they decided to move to Bisbee, Az where there was a business opportunity with the two town mortuaries. Their marriage did not survive the difficult transition and in 1955, at age 45, Mary found herself starting over in Phoenix. She worked as a Court Clerk for the Maricopa County Superior Court for 19 years and cared for her wheelchair-bound mother for 16 of those years. She retired to Payson and began a second career as a Real Estate Broker and loved helping people find their dream home in the Mogollon Rim country she so loved. She was a devoted grandmother and known for her beautiful roses, her china painting, bridge parties and her passion for her Shih Tzu companions. At age 72 she met her second husband, John Clem, and they enjoyed 15 years of companionship before his death in 1997. For the last 16 years of her life she lived with her daughter Mary Louise and her husband, Dr. Eugene Strong, (deceased in 2009)in their Pinetop and Show Low homes. Her 104th birthday party was celebrated at Charlie Clark's with family and friends and Mary relished her prime rib and two perfect Manhattans, courtesy of the owners. Mary was predeceased by her sister, Barbara Francon(Blake) and her brothers, Steven and Malcolm. She is survived by her daughter, Mary Louise Strong of Show Low; four grandchildren, Katherine Reeve (Grutzmacher) of San Diego, Steven Grutzmacher of Scottsdale, David Grutzmacher of Mesa and John Grutzmacher (Connie) of Mesa; seven great-grandchildren, Jonathan Martin (Kenley), Josiah Mayer, Samuel and Gabe Grutzmacher, Erin Grutzmacher(Faith), Steve Grutzmacher (Renee) and Sarah Grutzmacher; and four great-great-grandchildren, Finn and Zoe Martin and June and Elias Grutzmacher. Private family services will be held in May, at which time she will be laid to rest in the Columbarium at the Church of Our Saviour Episcopal Church in Lakeside. Donations may be made to the Humane Society of the White Mountains, http://www.hswm.org/ or PetAllies http://petalliesaz.org/.