Mae Louise Pirila Zeise, 91, went peacefully to be with the Lord on Wednesday, May 8th, 2019.
She was born May 6th, 1928 in Ely Minnesota to Saima (Lahti) and Oscar Pirila. She lived in Ely until her family moved to Pennsylvania shortly after she graduated from Ely Junior College. After returning to Minnesota, Mae Louise met her husband, George F. Zeise, while they both worked for the Downtown Minneapolis YMCA. They got married in September of 1956 and their daughter Kristen was born the following year. For over 45 years she continued to support her husband’s YMCA work while they lived in Minneapolis and Worthington Minnesota, and then Rapid City South Dakota.
Mae Louise worked at the Care Center as an Activities Director and later as a secretary at the First Congregational Church, both in Rapid City. After George and Mae Louise retired in 1988 they started volunteering with the Latin American YMCA and as missionary affiliates for their Church in San Jose, Costa Rica. They later settled down in Summerfield, Florida.
Grateful for having shared her life are daughter Kristen Leppla and her husband Bruce of Eustis, Florida; her brother Charles Pirila and his wife Donna of Alexandria, Minnesota; and many nieces and nephews.
Her husband of almost 50 years, George, preceded her in death; as well as her sisters Arlene Rukavina and June Gifford, sister-in-law Ruth Ann Von Ruden, brothers-in-law Joe Rukavina, George Gifford and Howard Von Ruden, and niece Kay Marie Rukavina.
A Memorial Service is scheduled for Saturday, May 25th at 3:00 pm at the United Church of Christ at the Villages in Oxford Florida. Mae Louise requested that any memorial gifts be made out to the Sioux Indian YMCA in Dupre, South Dakota for scholarships.
