Mary Lou’s Obituary Mary Lou Derksen, age 82, passed on to be with the Lord at AdventHealth Shawnee Mission, in Shawnee, KS, on Friday, May 10, 2019, from Congestive Heart Failure. She lived her last 4 years at the Shawnee Heartland Assisted Living, following a stroke in 2015. Mary Lou was born June 12, 1937, in Colorado Springs, CO to George and Frances (Bradley) Doty.
As a young girl, Mary Lou gave her heart to the Lord Jesus Christ and served Him her entire life. On August 31, 1956, she married Donald Derksen in Colorado Springs. She graduated from Wheaton College (Illinois) in 1957 with a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology.
In 1959, Don and Mary Lou joined the Wycliffe Bible Translators. For basic missionary training, they lived in the undeveloped jungles of Mexico for 4 months. Later, they were stationed on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, SD, to work with the Lakota Sioux dialect.
After the time spent with Wycliffe, Don and Mary Lou owned and operated a gas station/car wash, and later the Keystone Café in the Black Hills, surviving the terrible flood in June of 1972. (They lived in Keystone from 1975 to 1993. ) In 1974, when Donald became pastor of the Church at Rapid City (now Evening Light Tabernacle, pastored by their son Peter), Mary Lou became a pastor’s wife.
For many years she also volunteered at Rapid City Christian Academy as book-keeper, librarian, high school teacher, and as their music and drama teacher for all grades. In the late 1980’s Mary Lou returned to college, and in 1990 she graduated from South Dakota State University with a Master’s degree in Counseling and Human Re. She taught at Head Start, at the Community College of the Air Force, and briefly had a private practice in counseling, in Sturgis, SD.
Mary Lou is survived by her older sister, Carol Doty of Downer’s Grove, IL; her younger brother, Dr. Richard Doty of Philadelphia, PA; three sons, one daughter, and their spouses: Paul (Holly) Derksen of Saskatchewan, Canada; Deborah (Chuck) Nickloy of Kansas City, KS; Peter (Debby) Derksen of Rapid City, SD; Philip (Marcy) Derksen of Kansas City, KS; nine grandchildren: Angela Derksen, Katie (Jon) Olson, Chris (Jessica) Derksen, and Aaron Derksen, all of Saskatchewan, Canada; Nathan (Jackie) Derksen, and Jeffrey (Arielle) Derksen, both from SD; Bethany Derksen and Jonah Derksen, both from Jeffersonville, IN; Jesse (Caroline) Derksen from Minneapolis, MN. Mary Lou also had 8 great-grandchildren: Josiah, Melody, Harmony and Zion Olson; Kezia, Jason and Keturah Derksen; and Andrew Derksen. The ninth grandchild is expected soon.
She was preceded in death by her parents and her husband. Funeral Service will be held on Saturday, May 18th at 11:00 a.m., at Evening Light Tabernacle, 232 E. Adams St., Rapid City, followed by a graveside open memorial in the Keystone Cemetery. The Rev.
Israel Powe of Tucson, AZ, will officiate. In spite of mom’s passion for flowers, in lieu of flowers Mary Lou asked that donations be sent in her memory, to Wycliffe Bible Translating (www. wycliffe.org) or Voice of God Recordings (www.
branham.org).
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