Mabel Josephine Tongish

A Funeral Mass will be at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church on Friday August 20, 2010 at 10:30 a.m. with Msgr. Joseph Tash as Celebrant. Burial will follow at Memory Gardens Cemetery. No formal procession after service. Arrangements are by Schooler Funeral Home, 4100 S. Georgia, Amarillo, Texas 79110. Mabel was born in Herndon, Kansas where she attended St. Mary’s Grade and High Schools. She received her Registered Nurse’s degree in 1943, from St. Anthony’s Hospital School of Nursing in Denver, Colorado. She enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve ( Nurse Corps) upon graduation from Nurses Training in 1943, and was released to inactive duty in the U.S. Naval Reserve in late 1951 at which time she received her honorable discharge from the Navy. Mabel graduated from Charity Hospital School of Anesthesia of New Orleans LA in 1948. Mabel lived and worked in Houston, Texas, for a number of years. She married Claude Tongish in 1959 in Pasadena, Texas. In 1960, they moved to Amarillo where Mabel worked for the Veterans Affairs Medical Center. She retired from the VA in 1962 after the birth of their daughter, Karen. She was preceded in death by her parents Joseph and Josephine Riepl; three sisters Agnes Walsh, Mildred Hutfles, Dorothy Riley; two brothers Ernest and Dale Riepl. Survivors include her husband Claude of home, daughter Karen Tongish of New York City, and numerous friends and relatives. Mabel’s family would like to extend their heartfelt appreciation to the doctors, nurses and staff of BSA Hospice for their kind and considerate care of our beloved wife and mother while in their care during her brief stay with them. Thank you.In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial gifts be given to the charity of your choice.

---