Mary E. Topinka, 89, Gillette, Wyo., died Wednesday, May 23, 2007, at Pioneer Manor Nursing Home in Gillette, Wyo.

Funeral services will be on Tuesday, May 29, 2007, at the Kinkade Funeral Chapel, with Pastor Harold Delbridge officiating. Burial will follow at Bear Butte Cemetery.

Mary Elizabeth Topinka was born Aug. 20, 1917, at Boneita Springs to Frank and Emma (Tholson) Postlewait. She attended schools at Boneita Springs, Rapid City, and at the Spearfish Normal School. She then taught elementary school at Ringthunder, for two and one-half years.

She married Joe Topinka on Dec. 8, 1941, in Rapid City. They ranched near White River until moving their Z-T ranching operation to Boneita Springs in 1948. They moved to Nemo in 1961, and to Sturgis in 1987.

Mary was a member of the Evangelical Free Church in Rapid City and the First Wesleyan Church in Sturgis.

Survivors include her daughters, Ruth Topinka, Gillette, Wyo., Laura (Bob) Maul, Gillette, Wyo., and Joan (Gene) Torres, Las Vegas, N.M.; sisters, Margaret Harwood, Gillette, Wyo., and Helen Curtis, Fremont, Calif.; six grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Her parents; her husband; an infant son; and three sisters preceded her in death.

A memorial has been established to the Gideons.