Mary Skobar Luoma

Mary Skobar Luoma, age 96, of Cheshire, CT and formerly of Annandale, MN entered into rest on Tuesday, January 30, 2024 at MidState Medical Center in Meriden, CT.  Born on September 5, 1927 in Minneapolis, MN, daughter of the late John and Frances (Mahowski) Skobar, Mary was the devoted wife of the late Douglas W. Luoma until his passing in 1988.

Mary grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota and began her family there before moving to rural Annandale where Douglas built her a home on a lake. She raised her two daughters there, on the lake, and that home and her family was her world. It was a good world, and a good place for raising children, and Mary cherished it all. Winters were cold, and spring welcome. Summers were warm and best spent in the lake. And fall, of course, brought with it the Minnesota State Fair. Mary was a hard worker always, taking various jobs to make certain that her girls had the opportunities to receive music, dance, and ski lessons, and to participate in all the extracurricular activities available to give them a good life and prepare them for adulthood. Later, she took on the role of full-time nurse, caring for her beloved Douglas at home through a long end-of-life illness.  

Her devotion and caring for her family carried on into grand-motherhood. She provided endless help with child rearing for her three grandsons whilst her daughter pursued her PhD. Later, Mary moved to Chesire, Connecticut to be near her older daughter again, this time with her daughter’s new husband and new son. She continued to help out, countless times picking up her youngest grandson from St. Bridget school, even when she was well beyond her eightieth birthday.

Patrice, Mary’s older daughter will always remember her mother as the woman who loved her without question. Okay, well, there might have been a few questions, and often several comments, but Mary was always there for her, at one point going so far as taking her oldest grandson to live with her for four years when Patrice’s post-graduate work made it necessary. Patrice credits her mother with making possible the dream of a single mother of three to pursue a PhD and become a University Professor. Mother and daughter celebrated the accomplishment together with a trip to Italy years later.

Mary traveled the world even further with her younger daughter Andrea, from Australia and Vanuatu to Havana, Cuba. She took a deep interest in the people in Andrea’s life, always willing to have unique experiences with Andrea and her friends, always having a ball doing it. Andrea credits Mary with leaving an enduring mark on her to try to be as curious and open to learning new things as her mother was.

Mary did not slowdown in her later years, continuing to travel and visit her now grown grandchildren living all over the country. She traveled to Bali and to Cabo San Lucas for two of her grandsons’ weddings when she was well into her eighties. Over this past year she traveled back to Minnesota in September to attend what turned out to be her last Minnesota State Fair with her grandson Nicholas and his family, and danced at her grandson Evan’s wedding in Indio, California just two months later. She spent some time in Nevada, participating in a Santa race with her daughter Andrea in December, and vacationed with her grandson Jon and his family in California for several weeks, returning to Connecticut just days before passing. About the only thing left undone was a promised brunch date with her youngest grandson, Walker, here in Cheshire. 

Clearly, Mary made the most of the ninety-six years God gave her, and in the end, she left us quickly and unexpectedly; but then, she was always full of surprises.   She will be sorely missed, especially at the family gathering Aggravation games, but we can all take heart in knowing that Mary’s was a life very, very well lived.

Mary is the beloved mother of Patrice Luoma and her husband, Peter Blagys of Cheshire, CT; and Andrea Luoma of Henderson, NV.  Mary is also survived by her cherished grandchildren, Nicholas Pawelk and his wife Charmaine of Forest Lake, MN; Jonathan Pawelk and his wife Karen of Redondo Beach, CA; Evan Pawelk and his wife Jaclyn of CA; Walker Luoma-Blagys of Cheshire, CT; Nina Dintzis and her husband Jeff of East Stroudsburg, PA; and Jessica Blagys and her husband Andy of Springfield, TN. 

And lastly, Mary is survived by her three precious great-grandchildren that she took great joy in getting to know over the past three years: Priscilla Marcelina, August Alphonse, and Otto Isaac. 

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Monday, February 12, 2024 at 11AM at the Church of St. Peter, 1250 South Shore Drive, Forest Lake, MN, friends may greet her family at the church from 10AM until the time of the Mass.  Interment will take place in Fort Snelling National Cemetery, 7601 34th Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55450 at 1PM, where Mary will find her final resting place beside her beloved Douglas.