Mary Frances Bunten

August 4, 1950 - April 14, 2017

Mary Frances Bunten, age 66, of Bowling Green, passed away Friday, April 14, 2017 at the Pike County Memorial Hospital in Louisiana. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:00 am on Thursday, April 20, 2017 at the St. Clement Catholic Church with Fr. Bill Peckman officiating. Burial will be held at St. Clement Cemetery at a later date. Visitation will be held from 5:00pm until 7:00pm on Wednesday at the Bibb-Veach Funeral Home in Bowling Green. Mary was born August 4, 1950 in Louisiana, the daughter of Frank T. and Lucille Niemeyer Tophinke. On May 1, 1976 she married Daniel Lee Bunten at St. Clement Catholic Church. He survives. Other survivors include children Amanda Lynn Lamb of Collinsville, IL, Jeffrey Daniel Bunten (Tamara) of Columbia and Kimberly Ann Simpson (Jay) of St. Peters; grandchildren Henrietta Lamb, Cassidy and Julia Simpson; sister Jean Volk (Rick) of Cincinnati, OH; brother John Tophinke of Nashville, TN; nieces, nephews and cousins. She was preceded in death by her parents. Mary lived in St. Clement and Bowling Green most of her life. She attended grade school at St. Clement, graduated from St. Elizabeth Academy Catholic High School in St. Louis, and in 1972 she earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from North Eastern Missouri State in Kirksville. Upon graduation, she worked at Pike County Memorial Hospital before taking a nursing job for a year in Augusta, ME. After leaving Maine, Mary started working for Levering Hospital in Hannibal, MO, which merged with St. Elizabeth to become Hannibal Regional Hospital. Mary was a registered nurse, working in the ER, a supervisor and outpatient surgery. Mary enjoyed watching St. Louis Cardinals baseball, shopping, vacationing and traveling around the United States. Most of all she enjoyed spending time with her family. Serving as pallbearers will be Nathan Hoover, Jay Simpson, Kevin Volk, Steve Early, Chris Tophinke and Josh Early. Memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association or St. Clement Catholic Church.