Mary Lou (Lappe) Timpe, 95, formerly of Quincy, Illinois passed peacefully from this life on December 22, 2022 at the Parkway Place residential care facility in Houston, Texas. Mary Lou was the wife of the late Judge Virgil Timpe, who passed in November 2001, with whom she shared nearly 52 years of marriage. She is survived by her daughter Ann Timpe-Brennan and husband Dr. T. Stephen Brennan of Houston and son Mark Timpe and wife Maria of Joplin, Missouri, grandchildren Sr. Catherine Thomas Brennan, OP, Alexander Timpe and wife Brittany, Emily (Timpe) Mills and husband Andy and Gretchen Timpe, and also great grandchildren Henry Timpe and Molly Mills. Mary Lou is also survived by sister-in-law Charlotte (Timpe) Buckman of Quincy and many nieces and nephews.
Mary Lou, who was born and raised in Biehle, Missouri, was also preceded in death by her daughter, Dr. Karen (Timpe) Elliott, her parents, Theodore and Mary Lappe, her siblings and their spouses and all of Judge Timpe’s siblings and their spouses except for the aforementioned Mrs. Buckman.
After graduation from Perryville High School, Mary Lou moved to Washington, D.C. to work for the FBI. Later, at the request of her parents, she returned to the Midwest settling in St. Louis, Missouri and began working for General Motors. While living in St. Louis she met her future husband, Judge Timpe, while he was attending law school at St. Louis University. Following his graduation from law school, the couple was married and then settled in Quincy. While in Quincy, Mary Lou had a long and rewarding career with Lee Enterprises which owned and operated the KHQA and WTAD television and radio stations, respectively.
In retirement, she volunteered with the St. Mary’s and Blessing Hospital Guilds and also at Memorial Southwest Hospital in Houston, TX during her extended visits there and prior to permanently moving to Houston. Additionally, Mary Lou volunteered at the Quincy Museum, the Free Medical Clinic and the Quincy Hospitality House and was a former member of the Quincy Service League and the American Cancer Society, Over the years, Mary Lou greatly enjoyed time spent with family, her many friends from the former St. Boniface Parish, QND Band Parents, the Red Hat Ladies, her coffee group and the St. Peters Catholic Church Choir and Altar Society.
Mary Lou and her husband both donated their bodies to the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. Upon receipt of her ashes from Baylor, they will be interned at the St. Maurus cemetery in Biehle. In the near future, memorial services will be planned in Quincy and Biehle.
