Mary Clare Stalp, 82, of West Point, passed away Friday, June 2, 2023 at Josie Harper Hospice House in Omaha.
Funeral Mass will be 10:30am on Tuesday, June 6 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in West Point with Rev. Daniel Kampschneider as celebrant. The funeral will be live-streamed on the Stokely Funeral Home Facebook page at facebook.com/stokelyfuneralhome. Burial will be at St. Michael’s Cemetery with lunch following at the Nielsen Center. Visitation will be Monday from 3:00pm to 7:00pm with a Christian Mothers and Catholic Daughters Rosary at 7:00pm at Stokely Funeral Home. Family will be present at the visitation from 6:00pm to 7:00pm. Memorials may be made to the College of Saint Mary in Omaha or the John A Stahl Library in West Point. Arrangements by Stokely Funeral Home.
Mary Clare Stalp was born in Omaha, NE on July 21, 1940 to Edward and Clara (Koley) Proskocil. She attended St. Adalbert’s Catholic School through the 8 th grade and graduated from St. Joseph High School. Mary Clare went on to further her education at College of St. Mary. She met the love of her life, Paul Stalp, during a night of dancing. They married on February 10, 1968 at St. Adalbert’s Catholic Church. The couple made their home on a farm near Beemer where they raised their family.
Mary Clare always found the bright side in every situation. No matter what challenges life threw her way, she faced them with grace and strength. Her response always being some version of, “we’ll get through it.”
After moving to the farm, she embraced her new lifestyle; she supported Paul as he and his brother John worked the land. She canned pickles and tomatoes and even made a batch or two of beet wine. She welcomed her parents to the farm many Sundays for pot roast dinners and card games with the kids.
In addition, she started working as a Registered Dietitian at Franciscan Healthcare in West Point, working there for over 40 years. She grew her career and built strong professional and personal friendships, many of which she maintained until the very end.
She had many hobbies: she loved reading (especially murder mysteries), spending time with friends (either as part of the Red Hat Society or getting together with their Friday night card club group), traveling with Paul or her daughters, and sewing (she was legendary for her Halloween costumes and made many quilts, including a quilt for each of her grandkids).
She was also a strong advocate for her daughters, always encouraging them to pursue not only their educational goals, but to also support them in their dreams. She instilled a love of reading in her girls one Saturday at a time at the summer reading program at Beemer’s Karlen Memorial Library. And she could often be seen in the back of a 4-H speech competition gesturing to her daughters to stretch out their speeches and slow down.
Survivors include daughters, Barb (Larry) Lightner of Omaha, Dr. Marybeth Stalp of Waterloo, IA, Peggy (David) Neale of Centennial, CO, Sharon (Phil) Worthman of Littleton, CO, and Amy (Allen) Cordingley of Platteville, WI; sister Frances McKnight of Omaha; brother Edward (Mary Lou) Proskocil of Omaha; grandchildren, Simon and Violet Lightner, Tatum, Gillian, and Emory Neale, and Madison and Kaitlyn Worthman; sister-in-law Carol Ojeski of Omaha; and brother-in-law, Ray Meiergerd of West Point.
She is preceded in death by her parents; husband Paul; daughter Stacey in 1996; and brother Gerald Proskocil.
