Mary Ellen Zimmer

Mary Ellen Clower Zimmer passed away at her home in Pinetop, Arizona on Wednesday, June 14, 2017 following a period of declining health. Mary was 88 years old. She was the youngest of eight children and the last remaining child of L.O. (Lynn) and Stella Sigel Clower. Mary was born November 29, 1929 in Lakeland, Florida. Shortly thereafter, the family returned to Vienna, Ohio where she graduated from Vienna High School in 1946. It was there she meet her future husband, Donald J. Zimmer. They married on July 10, 1948 and spent 65 years together before his death on October 1, 2013.   Don worked in the oil drilling business and together with their daughter Kristen, they traveled the world. They spent many years in the Middle East, Venezuela, Norway, and Northern Africa, where Mary played hostess to world dignitaries, company executives and CEOs. When they returned to the United States, Mary was the bookkeeper and office manager for their own business, Petroleum Training Consultants, INC. in Albuquerque, NM.   Pinetop was always their summer/vacation home and upon retirement in 1983, they moved there permanently. Mary was a competitive golfer, a skilled bridge player, and loved to entertain. She was an excellent cook and was well known for her homemade pies. She loved to read, sew, knit and cross stitch. Her network of friends was endless and everlasting, and after the loss of her husband and daughter on February 23, 2013 at the age of 49, they became her family.   Mary will be deeply missed by those friends, and her family, of which she had many relatives who enjoyed visiting the White Mountains. Mary’s remaining family includes her two grandchildren, Donald and Erika Spiess, who live in Albuquerque; sisters-in-law, Fern, Christine (Teeny), and Helen Clower, and Joan Fleming, Jean Zimmer, and Janet Fleming; brothers-in-law, Ed, Jim, Jack and Chuck Zimmer   She was proceeded in death by her parents and her step-mother, Effie Scott Clower, her husband, daughter, Kristen R. Zimmer Spiess, brothers, Bill, Lynn (Jay), and Warren Clower; sisters, Angie Ray, Dorothy Lesjak, Alice Taylor, and Lois Barnum; brothers and sisters-in-law Robert Zimmer, Dorothy Klinger, and Virginia Weatherby.   Donations in Mary’s memory can be made to the Pinetop Country Club Employee Charitable Fund (PCCECF): 6734 Country Club Dr, Pinetop, AZ 85935. There will be a Celebration of Life for Mary, Don and Kristin on Sunday, July 30 at the Pinetop Country Club at 1:00 pm.