Mary Ann Schonert

Mary Ann Schonert was the matriarch of a Christian family centered on Jesus and his charitable love for all his people. In her 80 years of life on Earth, she endured, persevered, and celebrated countless blessing from God. This is her story.

Born July 9, 1942, in North Platte, Nebraska to Owen John “Corky” and Florene Amelia Carlisle, Mary Ann joined the family as the younger sister to her 3-year-old brother Richard Lee “Dick” Carlisle.

Growing up with her brother Dick, Mary Ann flexed her competitive spirit and flourished as one of the best young athletes in the small prairie town. While attending Lincoln Grade School, Mary Ann collected several notable rankings in her abilities as a swimmer. Competing at Western States she dominated in the backstroke event, winning first place at the age of 12. She went on to compete at the Nebraska State Swimming and Diving Championships where she placed fifth in the state for her age group. People close to Mary Ann can certainly recall her delightful smile and bright glow as she reminisced while sharing her stories about swimming as a young girl; she really loved the water.

But swimming wasn’t her only hobby as a young girl. Mary Ann was a tremendous runner as a child, and she loved to boast about how she routinely outran all the boys in her class at North Platte Junior High.

Like a true Tom Boy, Mary Ann also thrived on the baseball field. Taking after her talented Father who once played with the iconic St. Louis Cardinals, Mary Ann played third base and catcher as the only girl on an all-boys team.

Outside of sports, Mary Ann had many other interests and talents as a young girl. She absorbed books like a sponge taking water, especially on the subjects of history and travel. She was once accused by her librarian of reading every book in the library by the age of 13. Mary Ann also loved needle crafts. At a very young age she learned to embroider, making pillows and scarves, and this hobby quickly evolved into a passion she carried on and perfected throughout her life. Anyone who knew Mary Ann was likely to receive one of her lovely crochet creations.

Mary Ann was active in Girl Scouts as well, where she learned import lessons about humility and self-sacrifice derived from volunteer work in her community. Female leaders in the scouts served asimportant mentors during Mary Ann’s childhood and their lasting impression influenced her to continue scouting throughout her adolescence. Even after moving away from Nebraska, Mary Ann continued to serve with the Girl Scout in Georgia, Texas, Michigan, North Carolina, and Germany.

But above all else, Mary Ann cultivated a relationship with God that began in her youth. Baptized a member of the Methodist Church at the age of 11, she dedicated time to study the Word, sharing her favorite Bible verses with others, such as Psalm 121 which reminds us that we do not walk alone — God wants us to have faith that he has protected us in the past, has promised to provide for us in the present, and will preserve us in the future. Mary Ann prayed this Psalm as a believer that the God of heaven and earth journeys with us in our lives as our helper.

In June of 1955, Florene and Corky parted ways. With the addition of Mary Ann’s younger sister Susan Christine (Young), now three-years-old, Florene moved the family to Fry, Arizona (later renamed Sierra Vista). For the first couple of years, Mary Ann and Dick attended Tombstone High School, taking the bus 15-miles each way, before later transferring and graduating from Sierra Vista High. Mary Ann took on typical jobs for a high-school teenager, serving up cold treats at the local Dairy Queen and A&W Root Beer restaurants, but there was a not-so-typical job for a teenaged girl in a small desert town that led to the most impactful moment of her life.

Mary Ann would sometimes work in the local bar with her mother, Florene, serving drinks to soldiers stationed at nearby Fort Huachuca. One day in 1958, U.S. Army Sergeant Donald Paul Schonert came into the bar for a cold beer, and he was served by none other than, Mary Ann Carlisle. The two immediately struck up a lively conversation. Don didn’t want to leave the bar, but he also didn’t want to continue buying more and more beer in order to stay. Rumor has it, he sat at the bar all night long while drinking that one beer, just so he could stay and talk to Mary Ann.

On March 7, 1959, less than six months after Don ordered that sole beer from Mary Ann, the two were married and moving on to start their family. Mary Ann’s marriage to Don took them on travels across the United States and Abroad. In total, together they moved 13 times and lived in many different homes in between each transfer. Their first duty station as a married couple was Fort Monmouth, in Long Branch New Jersey. Then they moved to Fort Gordon in Augusta, Georgia in 1960, followed by Fort Carson, in Security, Colorad in 1962, then back to Fort Gordon in 1963 before a brief stay at Homestead Air Force Base, Leisure City, Florida. Then, you guessed it, back to Fort Gordon yet again, but this time Don received orders to serve in Korea and the family stayed behind in Augusta, Georgia.

In 1966, Don returned from Korea and the next call of duty sent them to Fort Hood, Texas for just one year, then off to Army ROTC in East Lansing, Michigan for another year before getting shipped overseas to Heilbronn and Kaiserslautern Germany in 1968. Two years later, Don received orders to Language

School at Fort Bliss, Texas in preparation for a tour in Vietnam during the War. Rather than moving the family to Fort Bliss, Mary Ann (while pregnant with Mary Luise) and the kids moved to Omaha, Nebraska to be closer to family. Upon Don’s return from Vietnam, the family was reunited in Omaha and received new orders to return to Germany for another tour of duty in Kaiserslautern.

In 1974, Mary Ann and Don returned to the U.S. and finished out their final years of service in the Army at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. After Don’s retirement, the couple was finally able to lay down roots in Bellevue, Nebraska where they have lived out the rest of their days ever since. Mary Ann was a loyal companion to Don, a steady force of support in his life as a devoted wife of a military service member. She too, served.

Of course, what’s missing from this impressive timeline of military travels alongside Don, are the blessings of their children born along the way. Mary Ann gave birth to their first child, Terri Lee (Aulner) and their second, Steven Paul during their first tour at Fort Gordon in Augusta, Georgia. Soon after, Franklin J joined the family while stationed in Fort Carson, Colorado. Mary Ann was a proud Army wife and mother of three children by the time she was 20 years old. Unfortunately, Mary Ann later lost two twin babies, Donna Ann and John Henry, while stationed in Germany in 1969. The twins, as Mary Ann so affectionately referred to them, were born prematurely and passed shortly after birth. After their passing, Donna Ann and John Henry were laid to rest in Fort McPherson National Cemetery. Mary Ann will be laid to rest alongside her children, reunited once again.

Last, but certainly not least, Mary Luise was born in 1971 in Omaha, Nebraska while Don was deployed overseas serving in Vietnam.

During their 63 years of marriage, Mary Ann and Don’s four children have grown the Schonert family tree substantially. They’ve been blessed with 12 grandchildren and 22 great grandchildren, with many more to come.

Mary Ann will be best remembered for her passionate love and generosity for her family. She was a constant beacon of support, truly living a holy life. As a member of the Free Methodist and Assembly of God Church (now Bellevue Christian Center) in Bellevue, Nebraska, she bore witness to her faith and prayed for strength to live as God instructed in her favorite Bible Verse Romans 12:1-8 – A Living Sacrifice. She truly believed that she was here on this Earth to help others and that God put her exactly where she needed to be at the right time. She even stated at one point “God works through me”. She was a firm advocate of “paying it forward”. She did not expect people to pay her back in any way, but only wished that whatever kind deed a person received from her, was later passed on to help another, and in that manner, she was spreading God’s will and allowing Him to work through her. In Romans, God asks us to offer ourselves as living sacrifices, to serve him. Mary Ann lived this testament and prayed for others to join her in service to Him.

Mary Ann was preceded in death by her parents Owen ’Corky’ Carlisle and Florene Cavanaugh; infant children Donna Ann and John Henry; brother Richard Carlisle; granddaughter Christine Lee Schonert; great grandson Dominic Korbin Aulner-Mancilla.

She is survived by her loving husband of 63 years Donald P. Schonert; children Terri (Albert) Aulner, Steven (Laurie) Schonert, Franklin (Vikki) Schonert and Mary (David) Pacheco; sister Susan (Russell) Young; 11 grandchildren and 21 great grandchildren, many nieces and nephews.

Private Family Interment to be held at Fort McPherson National Cemetery