Mary Weis

Mary Arthur Weis, age 86, of Austin, Minnesota, passed away Tuesday afternoon, September 15, 2020 at Sacred Heart Care Center in Austin. Mary was born January 21, 1934 in Charlotte, NC. In 1985 Mary Arthur was united in marriage to Ray Weis in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. She was a wonderful fine artist who enjoyed a lifelong love of the ocean and the natural world.

Mary will be missed by all who knew and loved her.

Survivors include her sons and their families, Lee Arthur of Pawley’s Island, SC; Richard Arthur of Rock Hill, SC; and John Arthur of North Myrtle Beach, SC. Stepchildren and their families include Peter Weis of Austin, MN; Margaret (Weis) Whytsell of Latrobe, PA; Meredith (Weis) Kepple of Huntsville, AL; and Melissa Weis of Austin. She was preceded in death by her parents, brother Lee Poole, husband Raymond Weis, and stepson Dr. Christopher Weis.

If Death Were A Woman

By Ellen Kort

I’d want her to come for me

smelling of cinnamon   wearing

bright cotton   purple maybe   hot

pink   a red bandanna in her hair

She’d bring good coffee   papaya juice

bouquet of sea grass   saltine crackers

and a lottery ticket   We’d dip

our fingers into moist pouches

of lady-slippers   crouch down to see

how cabbages feel when wind bumps

against them in the garden

We’d walk through Martin’s woods

find the old house   its crumbling

foundation strung with honeysuckle

and in the front yard   a surprise

jonquils   turning the air yellow

glistening and ripe   still blooming

for a gardener long gone   We’d head

for the beach   wearing strings of shells

around our left ankles   laugh

at their ticking sounds   the measured

beat that comes with dancing

on hard-packed sand   the applause

of ocean and gulls   She’d play

ocarina songs to a moon almost full

and I’d sing off-key   We’d glide

and swoop   become confetti of leaf fall

all wings   floating on small whirlwinds

never once dreading the heart-

silenced drop   And when it was time

she would not bathe me   Instead we’d

scrub the porch   pour leftover

water on flowers   stand a long time

in sun and silence   then   holding hands

we’d pose for pictures in the last light

Celebrations of Mary’s life will be private. Worlein Funeral Home of Austin is assisting the family with arrangements. Condolences may be expressed to the family online at www.worlein.com.