Mary Madden

Mary Alice Madden age 76 of Charles City, IA, died Thursday, June 17, 2021, at her home. Funeral Services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Friday, June 25, 2021, at Faith Bible Chapel in Charles City with Rev. Jason Boyd officiating. Interment will be held at Sunnyside Memory Gardens, rural Charles City. Friends may greet the family from 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. Thursday, June 24, 2021, at Hugeback Johnson Funeral Home & Crematory - Olson Chapel in Nashua. Visitation continues an hour prior to the service at the church on Friday. Mary Alice was born on February 3rd, 1945 to William and Dorothy (Taylor) Spain in Minnesota. When Mary was a young child, Dorothy moved to Nashua, IA, and married Frank Eugene Dann. The couple went on to have 10 more children together. Mary attended school through the 8th grade until she was needed in the home and helped care for the younger children in the home. Mary and Ernest Madden were married on April 30th, 1972. The two were introduced to each other by Mary’s brother Ron and his wife, Joyce who also happened to be Ernie’s sister. Mary and Ernie were able to have one daughter, Patricia, raising her in their home in Nashua, IA together until Ernie’s passing in 1990. After that, Mary continued to raise Tricia on her own while working in the Nashua Schools and later at St. Joseph’s Hospital in New Hampton, IA. Tricia was the focus of Mary’s life and Mary always said that Tricia really knew how to keep her on her toes. She would call Tricia her “little imp”, loving to re-tell stories of when Tricia stuck a fork in the “light socket” and of the time that Tricia fell in the rain barrel head first at Grandma’s house but was pulled out by her cousin, lucky to be alive. Mary was very family-focused and highly valued not only the time and activities she was able to do with her family but was dedicated to helping them in any way that she could. Mary was very close to her sister Diana who was also a single mother. The two of them took their children on family vacations together every chance they got. Tricia’s most fond memories were of the trips to Adventureland where her mom never went on the rides but loved watching the excitement on the faces of her daughter and her niece, Danielle when they got off an especially thrilling ride. After retirement, Mary enjoyed spending time with her grandchildren as well. She would take the kids to the library, go on walks with them, and thoroughly enjoyed any coloring or science activity that the kids wanted to do. Mary was always interested in what the grandchildren had to share with her and were always amazed at what they were able to do, sometimes promoting mischievous acts against their mother. Mary is survived by her daughter, Patricia Madden, of Charles City, IA; four brothers, Bob (Sharrill) Dann of Nashua, IA; Ron (Joyce) Dann of Nashua, IA; Jim (Cheri) Dann of Wisconsin; and Bruce (Diane) Dann of Charles City, IA; four grandchildren: Destiny Fingalsen, Cory Fingalsen, Aleczandria Madden and Xavier Madden; and numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband (Ernest), four brothers: Dennis, John, Thomas, and Timothy Dann, and two sisters: Barbara Zelmer and Diana Wiles