Mary Wilhelmina Ewer

Mary Ewer, age 89 of Benson, passed away April 6, 2023, in Scandi Haven Village-Memory Care in Benson. Visitation will be 10-11 a.m., followed by the memorial service at 11 a.m., Tuesday, May 2, 2023, at Gearhart Funeral Home in Coon Rapids, Minnesota. Interment will follow in Morningside Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Coon Rapids.

Mary Wilhelmina Ewer was born September 1, 1933, in St. Paul, Minnesota, the daughter of Paul and Minnie (Hammer) Schmidt. She was raised in Minneapolis, where she attended school through the 11 ^th grade. Mary was removed from her birth parents at a very young age and lived in and out of an orphanage and the foster care system. She became a permanent foster child of Tom and Hazel Johnson of Robbinsdale, Minnesota and kept in touch with them and their children, Phyllis and Don and their families throughout her life.

Mary was united in marriage to Edward Erlandson on September 4, 1953. This union was blessed with 35 years together and four children: John, Linda, Debbie, and Diane. The couple raised their family in Coon Rapids, Minnesota. She was active in the church choir and devoted many years to the adult foster care program of Anoka County.

After the death of her first husband, Ed, she remarried and moved to Appleton to be close to her sister, Marlene. After Marlene passed away, they relocated to Benson, where she lived until her passing on April 6, 2023, at the age of 89. For the last two years she has been a resident of Scandi Haven Memory Care in Benson.

Mary is survived by her children: John (Pandora) Erlandson, Linda Erlandson, and Debbie (Jerry) Robideau; her 11 grandchildren; her 15 great-grandchildren; and other relatives and friends. She was preceded in death by her husband, Edward Erlandson in 1988; her second husband, Orelan Ewer in 2008; her daughter, Diane Erlandson in 2004; and her sister, Marlene Paulson in 2002.

Blessed be the memory of Mary Wilhelmina Ewer.