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Memorial Service
Saturday, November 22, 2014
First United Methodist Church
1650 Rainbow Blvd.
Excelsior Springs, MO
11 a.m.
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Mary Katherine (Maurer) Dixon Martz
Mary Katherine (Maurer) Dixon Martz, 98, died on November 17, 2014 in Leawood, Kans.
Mary Katherine "Kakie" was born in Excelsior Springs, Mo., on October 24, 1916, the only child of Jacob and Gertrude Maurer. She graduated from high school there in 1934 and was valedictorian of her class.
Mary Katherine attended Christian College in Columbia, Mo., and got a B.S. degree from the business school at the University of Missouri in 1938, where she was one of only three or four women in the business school. She also served as President of her sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta, and as President of Pan-hellenic. She continued her education in 1956 for a life certificate in education and taught school at both Isley and Wyman schools.
She married Arvil "Dick" Dixon on July 20, 1942 and they were married for almost 48 years before Dick died in 1990. Together they owned the Ford dealership in Excelsior Springs from 1952 to 1974, when they sold the business to Chuck Anderson.
Mary Katherine has been a member of First United Methodist Church in Excelsior Springs for her entire life. She was a long-time member of the Monday Coterie and was also involved in PTA, cub scouts, and the building committees of the hospital, church, and the Clay County Health Dept.
In 1997, Mary Katherine received the Citizen of the Years Award from the Excelsior Springs Chamber of Commerce, an award which her husband, Dick, received in 1977. The award was in recognition of a lifetime of contributions to the community.
In 2006, at age 90, Mary Katherine started the Maurer Foundation to benefit the Excelsior Springs Museum & Archives. The Foundation has raised over $100,000 to support and endow the Museum.
On May 4, 2002, she married John "Jack" Martz, whom she had known at the University of Missouri. She moved to St. Louis, where Dr. Martz was a retired physician, and they were married for almost 10 years until Dr. Martz died in 2012.
Mary Katherine is survived by her son, Tom Dixon, and his wife, Cheri of Lee's Summit, Mo.; her daughter, Judy Manka, and her husband, Richard of Leawood, Kans.; a cousin, Lt. Col. Jack Scrivner, of Colorado Springs, Colo.; a step-daughter, Elizabeth, and step daughter-in-law, both of St. Louis, Mo., and their families; seven grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husbands, Dick Dixon and Jack Martz, by her parents, Jake and Gertrude Maurer, and by an infant daughter, Patricia Kaye.
A memorial service for Mary Katherine will be held on Saturday, November 22, 2014 at 11 a.m. at The First United Methodist Church, 1650 Rainbow Blvd., Excelsior Springs, Mo.
Memorial contributions may be made to The Maurer Foundation, c/o The Excelsior Springs Museum & Archives, 101 E. Broadway, P.O. Box 144, Excelsior Springs, MO, 64024; or The First United Methodist Church, 1650 Rainbow Blvd., Excelsior Springs, MO, 64024.
Arrangements by Bross & Spidle Funeral Home, Excelsior Springs.
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