Ernesta Mary Handke, 88, Atchison, Kansas died Thursday, July 20, 2017 at Atchison Senior Village Nursing Center.

Mass of Christian burial will be Tuesday, July 25, 2017 at 10:30 A.M. at St. Louis Church at Good Intent with Rev. Benjamin Tremmel, OSB as celebrant. Interment will follow in St. Louis Church Cemetery. A parish rosary will be recited on Monday, July 24th at 6:30 P.M. at Arensberg-Pruett Funeral Home with visitation with the family until 8:00 P.M. Memorial contributions are suggested to St. Louis Church or Atchison Hospice and may be left in care of the funeral home.

Mary was born June 2, 1929 in Effingham, Kansas the daughter of Ernest and Marguerite Burg Falk. She attended St. Ann’s Grade School in Effingham and graduated from Atchison County Community High School in 1947.

She and Eugene J. “Gene” Handke were united in marriage on May 11, 1948 at St. Ann’s Catholic Church in Effingham, Kansas. Mr. Handke preceded her in death on January 14, 2014.

Mary worked at Dorothy’s Fabric Shop in Atchison and then as a receptionist at Snowden-Mize Drug Company. She then became a secretary in the industrial engineering department of Rockwell International Corporation for Mr. Fred Summers and later moved to the purchasing department at Rockwell until her retirement.

She was a member of St. Louis Catholic Church and the Altar Society of the church. Mary formerly served as a member of the board of directors at the Atchison YMCA.

Survivors include a son Stephen (Paula) Handke, Atchison, KS; two sisters, Margie (Don) Handke, Lancaster, KS; Irene Becker, Robinson, KS; a son-in-law, John Ferritor, Leavenworth, KS, five grandchildren and seven great grandchildren.

In addition to her husband, Eugene, she was preceded in death by a daughter, Sharon Ferritor and a brother, Lawrence Falk.