Mary Schaaf

Lee’s Summit, MO – Mary J. Schaaf, nee Coryell, passed away April 14, 2020. Born in 1924 to Lewis and Nell (Huderle) Coryell, she attended public schools in Madison, WI, and earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Botany from the University of Wisconsin in 1946, where she was also a member of Alpha Gamma Delta. She was a landscape architect for Stark Bros Nurseries and Orchards Company in Louisiana, MO, and an active member of the American Association of University Women and the Eastern Star of Missouri. She then returned to UW, earning her Master of Science degree in Landscape Architecture in 1951 and elected to Phi Sigma, a national graduate Biological Honor Society. In 1952 she moved to Milwaukee, WI, where she was a city planner for the Milwaukee County Regional Planning Department and, in 1953, successfully competed for a position as landscape architect in the Milwaukee County Parks Department. She participated in the planning for the new Milwaukee County Zoo, prepared a study showing the effect of the proposed expressway system on the county parks and supervised the seasonal flower shows at the Mitchell Park Conservatory (before the advent of the domes). In 1957 she married Carl Schaaf and moved to Deerfield, IL. She returned to Madison in 1962 with her family where she was a long-time member of Asbury United Methodist Church. After raising her children into middle school, Mary returned to work as a freelance landscape architect. She retired in 1991 after serving as a graphic artist and newsletter editor for the Madison Metro Transit System. In 1998 Mary moved to Lee’s Summit, Missouri, where she lived independently at John Knox Village until March of last year. She faithfully attended the Lee’s Summit Methodist Church and then services at the Village. She was an avid seamstress and knitter throughout her life for herself and family, but also donated many homemade baby blankets and children’s clothes to a women’s shelter. She enjoyed working in her garden(s), dabbling in the arts/upholstery and woodworking, reading, crossword puzzles, attending musical performances, bridge (and, in the last year, bingo), and most things chocolate! Mary was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Carl and her brother, John L. Coryell, M.D. She is survived by her daughters Susan (Robert) of Cheyenne, WY, and Barbara (Douglas) of Lee’s Summit, MO; grandchildren Renee, David, Allison and Valerie (Sean), great-granddaughter Jasmine and another on the way.  In lieu of flowers, condolences may be sent to the family via Cress Funeral Home, 3610 Speedway Rd., Madison, WI 53705 or memorial donations made to The Glaucoma Foundation, 80 Maiden Lane, Suite 700, New York, NY 10038. A service in Madison will be held in the fall.