Mary Lou Hanify

Mary Lou (Helmer) Hanify, longtime Worland, Wyoming, resident, passed away February 6, 2025, at Central Wyoming Hospice in Casper, Wyoming, at the age of 90.

The sixth of eight children, Mary Lou was born October 5, 1934, to Bill and Alma Helmer on the family property in Redwater Valley, between Belle Fourche and Spearfish, South Dakota. She graduated from Belle Fourche High School in May 1952. While in high school, she participated in 4-H and Job’s Daughters, serving as Honored Queen. She also played drums in the high school band. After high school, Mary Lou received medical technician training at Northwestern School of Medical Technology in Minneapolis, eventually taking a position at John Burns Memorial Hospital in Belle Fourche.

While working in Belle Fourche, Mary Lou met Mike Hanify at a barn-warming dance in Nisland, South Dakota. They were married November 25, 1955, and she continued to work at John Burns Memorial until Mike graduated from Black Hills Teachers College in 1959. After stops in Hot Springs, South Dakota, and Saratoga, Basin, and Sheridan, Wyoming, Mike and Mary Lou settled in Worland, Wyoming, in 1967, living in town until 1980, then moving out to Sesame Street to the house she and her family helped build. 

While a homemaker for much of her adult life, Mary Lou still found time to work outside the home. She spent time during one harvest season at Holly Sugar, earning enough to get the basement carpeted. She also worked as a teacher’s aide at Worland Middle School and took classified ads for the Northern Wyoming Daily News. And when Mike was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2015, Mary Lou tended to him until his passing in 2023.

Mary Lou loved to bake: bread, angel food cakes, tea rings, cookies, buttermilk brownies. Chocolate chip cookies were her favorite—or at least they were her sons’ favorite. She enjoyed sewing and quilting. She spent time gardening, working in the yard, and tumbling over cliffs. She delivered Meals on Wheels for years. And she enjoyed playing bridge and other card games, activities that transformed her from someone who generally did not tolerate swearing into someone who did—a lot.

Mary Lou was preceded in death by her parents, William and Alma (Lindgren) Helmer; sisters Dorothy (Kenneth Umenthum) and Dora (James Hansen); brothers Raymond (Wilma), LeRoy (Ruth), and Glenn (Betty) Helmer; and her husband of 67 years, Eugene “Mike” Hanify. Survivors include brothers Larry (Ardyth) and Gary (Jeanie) Helmer; sons Douglas, Christopher, Matthew, and Brian; daughter-in-law Sandra May; grandsons Ryan (Molly), Nicholas (Jennifer), Timothy, Daniel (Lauren), D. Scott (Morgan), Jackson, and Alexander; granddaughter Adelaide; and great-grandchildren Jillian, Alaina, Emmalee, Mason, Hailey, William, and Blaine.

Mass of the Christian Burial will be held on March 19 at 10:00, at St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church in Worland, Wyoming. A Prayer Vigil/Rosary will be held on March 18 at 6:00 in the evening. Interment will take place in the Black Hills National Cemetery on March 20 at a time yet to be determined. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Parkinson's Foundation or Alzheimer's Association.

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