It is with heavy hearts, we announce Mary (Sebeck) Rivers, age 74,  passed away Friday afternoon, December 29th, 2023 at home and surrounded by loved ones. While we mourn the irreplaceable void her absence creates in our lives, we take solace knowing that, with her presence, Heaven has never burned so brightly.

Mary was born May 8, 1949, in Escanaba, Michigan, the daughter of Roy and Bernice (Deiter) Sebeck. She embarked on a new chapter of her life when she moved to Wisconsin after marrying her devoted husband, Frank Rivers, with whom she started a beautiful family.

Mary's life was a tapestry of love and dedication, woven around her family, which stood as her greatest pride and accomplishment. However, she was a woman with many passions. She had a deep appreciation for the outdoors and could often be found fishing, camping, or tending to her beautiful yard and garden. Her backyard was a haven for birds, where she took great delight in feeding them and watching their colorful performances (this does not include bluejays). She had an adventurous spirit and enjoyed long trike rides along the winding backroads, marveling at all of the majesty and beauty that surrounded her. She had an ardent devotion to keeping her house and camper immaculate to the very end, it was a testament to her nature and tireless commitment to providing a warm and welcoming home for her loved ones. When Mary was in the woods, she was in her element. Always the best hunter in the family, not only did she keep the camp from getting skunked most years, she also kept us all from starving to death in the process. Mary was always showing us "old Indian tricks" in the woods, but none more memorable than her calls: sometimes, she would call in the Whip-poor-wills around the nightly campfire, many times, she would call us on radio to say she got a deer, and most times, she would call us wimps for heading back to camp to eat chili by 9:00 because we got too cold - which kind of dovetails into what was probably her very favorite pastime: keeping Frank in line.

Mary was never one to be the center of attention, but she was always the center of our universe. While we try to figure out how exactly Rivers are supposed to keep moving after losing the force behind them, we will strive to honor her memory by living our lives with the same kindness, compassion, and zeal that she exemplified every day.