Mary Alice Kastner (Sis), 94, peacefully departed this life on October 25th, 2023 in her St. Louis, Missouri home in the company of family members she loved dearly. 

Born Mary Alice James on December 13th, 1928 in Vienna, Missouri, she was one of four children born to Marvin and Opal James. She graduated from Vienna High School in 1946 and from the City Hospital School of Nursing in St. Louis in 1949. Mary spent her entire nursing career dedicated to the health and well being of others up until her retirement in 1990. 

On May 20th, 1950, Mary joined hands with her beloved husband Leo Kastner who preceded her in death in 2018. They were married for 68 years, during which time they raised five children together. She was also preceded in death by her son Daniel Kastner and her grandson James Kenney. 

Mary spent her life demonstrating kindness and generosity to others, serving as an inspiration to everyone who knew her well. She possessed a wonderful sense of humor, laughed easily, trusted everyone until they gave her a reason not to, and throughout her life maintained a  sense of innocence that few people are able to hang onto. 

It was from her mother that Mary acquired her devotion to family, her love of the family farm in Vienna, and her appetite for reading. An accomplished seamstress, she spent countless hours creating beautiful outfits for herself and her daughters, as well as dozens of lovely Barbie doll clothes. 

Mary leaves behind her daughters; Marsha Kenney and Jane Condellire, her sons; Stephen Kastner and Michael Kastner, her daughter-in-law Lynn Kastner, nine grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren. She also leaves behind her beloved sister, Dolores Grace Hempe (Babe), 93, of Jefferson City, Missouri, with whom she shared an incomparable bond for more than 93 years. 

Mary’s family requests that in lieu of donations and flowers, we should all extend love and kindness to family members, close friends, and perhaps especially to people we don’t even know, as she often did herself.