Mary Stollenwerk Andrews

Mary Stollenwerk Andrews passed away Friday September 8th, 2023 in Kansas City, Missouri, at the age of 23. She leaves her 5 year old daughter Amelia Dupont, Mother Joanne Stollenwerk, sister Ashley Black and brothers Aaron Black, Philip Brown, Bill T Andrews, and Mark Andrews. She was preceded in death by her father William Andrews who passed away in 2007.

Mary was born on March 21st, 2000 to her biological parents Darius Edwards and Donita Foster. Darius and Donita, for various reasons, were unable to care for Mary so she became part of the Missori foster care system. Joanne and Bill met her there. They joined the foster care program as prospective foster parents. When they met Mary they were instantly smitten and volunteered to care for her. After approximately a year they adopted little Mary, and their new family was formed.

Joanne and Mary were inseperable and did so many things together like swimming, dance classes, skating programs, church activities and others too numerous to list. A piano was purchased. It was heavy, but it ended up in the dining room. Mary took to it and learned a few tunes before she was on to the flute. Not heavy. She also enjoyed singing along with her favorite pop artists.

Little Mary was the apple of Bill's eye. He built her swings, toys, toy boxes, put up an above ground pool and dotted on her continuously. It's safe to say that the little girl had the old man wrapped around her finger, and she knew it. The three of them went to Luther Point family camp in Grantsburg, Wisconsin a few times where Mary met and formed bonds with her Aunts, Uncles, and cousins from Joanne's side of the family. Mary also took a couple trips to New York to visit her Brother Mark and his wife Cathy and their family. She often spoke fondly of these travels and especially the people she grew to love from all sides of the family.

Unfortunately Mary was aquainted with loss at an early age when Bill passed away in 2007. Around the same time Mary's God Father and God Grandmother passed away. So much grief for such a young girl.

In 2009, Joanne and Mary moved to Clear Lake, Iowa to experience the joy of small town life in the midwest. Joanne continued to encourage any interests that Mary developed. There was more skating and dancing, and the piano made the trip too. Mary made many friends in Clear Lake. Friends she would stay in touch with after she and Joanne moved back to KC in 2014. A few years later, Mary met Cameron Dupont and along came their daughter Amelia in May of 2018. They were loving parents and Joanne finally got the grandchild she wanted for so long. Mary, Cameron and Amelia lived together until early 2021, when they separated. Later Mary met Jayden and they remained together, on and off, until Mary passed.