Our dear mother, Mariele Berthold, sadly passed away peacefully on June 5, 2025 at the age of 91. She was a wonderful matriarch who was always there when we needed her, offering support, wisdom, and love in abundance.
She was born on July 29, 1933 in Kirchberg im Wald, Germany to Katrina and Otto Schiller. Meeting her future husband, Goetz Berthold, in Kirchberg through teen soccer matches and then again after the war, they had a years-long cross-oceanic courting wherein they married and emigrated to Lawrence Kansas in 1958.
Known as Oma to her family and friends, she began her career as homemaker and hobbyist seamstress in Lawrence and added mothership in 1959 with the birth of her son Gert and then again in 1964 with the birth of Roland. She gradually became the matriarch of her family and siblings spanning continents, doling out her loving and caring along with the occasional candid admonishment for improvement. She couldn’t help but pass that forward to others as she loved people and loved being with each person she crossed paths with.
Mariele and Goetz help start the St. Johns Oktoberfest over 25 years ago. From working in the kitchen, providing German recipes, participating in planning and promotion, and then later in Oma oversight, she and Goetz have been involved actively since the start. With the passing of her beloved husband in 2020 along with her limited mobility, Oma deferred oversight but instead enjoyed celebrity participation at the Oktoberfest, where she passed forward her love and accolades.
Mariele is preceded in death by her parents and all her siblings, Kethl Maier and Pepi Prinz.
Oma is survived by her 2 sons and their spouses, Gert and Anne Berthold and Roland and Sherri Berthold, 9 grandchildren, 7-great grandchildren, her nieces and nephews in Germany, and the vast Mariele network whom she all dearly loved.
Funeral Mass will be 11 am, Tuesday, June 17, 2025, at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church 1234 Kentucky St, Lawrence, KS 66044. A Visitation will start at 10am until service time.
We are very sad about the death of my beloved aunt Mariele. She was a close friend to me since my childhood, even though she was so far from us. We Shared serious and lighthearted conversations together, laughed a lot, and cried a lot too. We will miss her very much! Mariele, we miss you so dearly!
So sorry for your loss…I will miss her dearly! Her Mama and my Mama were very close….and I became closer just this past year…loved her dearly and enjoyed time with her!