Mary Lynn Poeller, nee Reurink, 69, a 1964 Hopkins High School graduate, died last Tuesday at her Battle Creek home.

Poeller, an area business woman and life long gardener, was born Oct. 20, 1946, in Grand Rapids, the daughter of the late Henry and Charlotte Reurink. She grew up in the Hopkins area and received a bachelor’s degree in English with a minor in French and German from Grand Valley State University.

After college, she began a career as a teacher at Catholic Central and Street Academy. Later she worked selling insurance and solar panels. After marrying her husband on June 19, 1989, the pair operated regional Warner candy sales and eventually invested in residential real estate in the Battle Creek area.

“My mom lived authentically and she loved with abandon.” said her eldest daughter, Linea Woody.  “When they came to visit in June, she and I stayed up late together one night.  We drank wine, whispering and giggling into the wee hours.  I am forever grateful for that evening.”

Her youngest, Eve Josar, said Mary’s ability to tame a field of wild flowers into a vase and her passion for a good DIY project were infectious and something to aspire to.

Friend and neighbor Donna Bradshaw said, “Mary was fire, wild hair and smiling, twinkling, mischievous blue eyes,” she said. “I admired her free spirit, her strong sense of self, her creativity and flair. I am going to miss her.”

Mary spoke daily with her two younger sisters, who also live in western Michigan.

Mary loved her daughters and grandchildren beyond measure. She and her husband, Mike, traveled several times a year to Colorado to see their grandchildren perform in school plays and dance recitals. She ventured to Johannesburg, South Africa, when her youngest granddaughter was born in 2011.

Besides her husband, Mike Poeller, Mary is survived by her daughters, Linea and Scott Woody of Castle Rock, Colorado, and Eve and David Josar, of Phnom Penh, Cambodia; two sisters, Susan and James King of Sawyer and Jane and Kenneth Worstell of Otsego; a brother, Richard and MaryAnne Reurink of Middleville; three grandchildren, Drake and Camille Woody and Colette Maxine Josar; and numerous cousins, nieces, nephews and cherished friends.  She was predeceased by a brother, Hank Reurink.

Visitation and service already have taken place.