Mary Denler

Mary Lorraine Barnett was born April 3, 1930, in Sorento , IL . She attended grade school in Reading and Worthington , MN , and graduated from Cambridge in 1948. She then attended Northwestern Schools in Minneapolis . While at Northwestern, Gene Denler and his identical twin, Dean, became interested in the Barnett sisters, Mary and Ruth. They proposed on the same night, in the same place, at the same time – with the same result! High School

Two years after graduating from Northwestern, Mary and Ruth joined the Denler twins in Taiwan . Gene and Dean had been sent as a musical gospel team to minister to the Chinese National soldiers in Taiwan who had fled communist China . The Denler twins were married to the Barnett sisters on December 20, 1952, in General Chiang Kai-shek’s private chapel in Taipeh , Taiwan . Mary and Gene served with the Navigators in the Philippines and Hong Kong from 1953 to1975.

Mary and Gene moved to Morris in 2004. They attended Morris Community Church.

Mary died Saturday, July 26, 2008, at the West Wind Village at the age of 78, having graciously fought Alzheimer’s disease for 13 years.

Mary is survived by her husband, Gene, of Morris; one daughter, Connie (Paul) Hendricks of Morris; three sons, Gordon Denler of Morris, Ron (Mary) Denler of Champlin; Norman (Tina) Denler of Midlothian, Texas; eight grand daughters, Susie (Kris) Hanson, Joy (Seth) Baker; Melissa, Carly and Elizabeth Denler of Champlin, MN; Hannah, Kaitlyn and Rebekah Denler of Midlothian, TX; three great grandsons, Elliot and Nathaniel Hanson and Aaron Baker; her brother, Jake (Marge) Barnett of Bloomington; and her sister, Ruth Myers of Colorado Springs, CO.