Mary Auble

Sacramento, California - Mary Elizabeth Emde was born in Stockton, CA on Feb. 22nd 1935, to George and Betty Emde. Along with her older brothers, George Jr. and John, she grew up among the Guernsey cows on Happyholme Farms in Lodi, a prominent dairy of the region.
She learned her three R's at the Henderson school, a one room school house which served the farm kids. She was always miffed that she and her classmates could not be together at school on Feb. 22nd. Everyone got the day off to celebrate George Washington's Birthday instead of hers!
In her early years and up through high school, Mary was heavily involved with 4-H. As such, she had quite a bit of mud on her shoes and was shipped off to Mills College for finishing and polishing. After a year of that, she set off to Iowa State for the more practical pursuit of knowledge in the art of Home Economics. In this it proved successful, as her children rarely went hungry and always had warm jackets.
It was during the winter of '55-'56, a wet time with much flooding, that James Auble of Susanville reached out to his fraternity brother George Jr. for some much needed straw bedding. He brought his truck down to Lodi to obtain the straw, and that is when he met Mary, who was home for the holidays. Sparks flew. Before she went to sleep that night, Mary told her parents that she had met the man she was going to marry. When Jim arrived back to see his mother in Alturas, he told her that he had met the woman he was going to marry.
When spring arrived, Mary invited Jim to come out to Ames for the magnificent VEISHEA celebrations, a week long campus party of parades, floats, dances, entertainment and exhibitions unrivalled in the country.
When the snows arrived again, Jim and Mary had a rendezvous in Sun Valley, Idaho and the dye was cast. On January 5th 1957, much to the dismay of the young men of San Joaquin County, Mary was wedded to Jim in grand style at the Morris Chapel on the campus of the College of the Pacific.
Jim and Mary began their life together on his ranch in Susanville. It was there that Mary gave birth to their first son. Soon after, she and her boy went to live in Beekman Place in Manhattan while Jim completed his qualifications for becoming a stockbroker.
After stops in Lodi (which produced a daughter) and Stockton (which produced another son), the Aubles dropped anchor in Sacramento and made it their lifelong home.
Mary was a kind and generous person. She was very active in local philanthropy with the Assistance League. She especially enjoyed her work with the vision screening program for young kids. She also worked hands on with the afflicted souls at United Cerebral Palsy. A very difficult and humbling task, that gave a great perspective on life that she passed on to her loved ones.
Mary was a vibrant athlete as a young woman. She could play softball, smack a golf ball and be a great doubles partner to Jim in tennis. Hiking the mountains of the Sierras with a full pack, water skiing in the Delta, or maneuvering her seven and a half foot long skis down the mountain, it was all done with an enormous and unforgettable smile.
She also had a great knack for cards and dice. While quite a good hand at bridge and gin rummy (Jim said he never once beat her at the latter), where she shined was at dominoes. She, along with her partner, were seldom defeated and won many events together.
Jim dragged Mary all over the country following the ups and downs of Stanford football. While Jim was blowing a gasket, either because of Stanford's good fortune or rotten luck, Mary was the calming voice of support and confidence that kept him semi-sane. It was this even temperament and positive outlook that gave everyone in her life the courage and love to help them pursue their dreams.
Mary is survived by her loving husband Jim, her son Jim and his wife Vivian (Mia and Maddy), her daughter Karie Josten and her husband Nick (George, Nicko and Peter), her son John and his wife Lisa (Nick, Lauren, Jayne and Reese) and great grandchildren Nora,George, Edwin, Sam and Lily.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Mary's name to the Assistance League of Sacramento. If anyone out there has a nice photo of Mary, please send it on to Karie at; [email protected]
No services are planned at this time. We'll let you know. Just say a quick prayer to Mary to expidite her journey to heaven.