Mary Lee Bechtold, 81, Kidder, Missouri, passed away on January 20, 2013, at Heartland Regional Medical Center, St. Joseph.

Mary was born on November 1, 1931, in Paradise, Missouri, to Gilbert and Vivian Buckridge Dale. She had earned a Masters Degree in Counseling and had worked as a teacher, counselor, and an author.

She was a member of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Hamilton, and a member of the Women's American Legion Auxillary Post #33 of Cameron, Mo.

She was preceded in death by her parents and a brother, Tim Dale.

On August 15, 1953, she married Eugene Bechtold in Kansas City, Missouri. He survives of the home.

Additional Survivors: Daughters, Julie McDonald, Kidder; and Marijean Bechtold, Omaha, Nebraska; Brother, Robert Dale, Blue Springs, Mo.; and 2 grandchildren- Megan McDonald, St. Joseph, Mo., and Damon Bechtold, Omaha.

Funeral Mass: 11 a.m., Thursday, January 24, at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Hamilton.

Visitation and Rosary: 10 a.m., until service time, at the church and just prior to the service.

Interment: Cameron Memory Gardens, Cameron.

Memorials: The Caldwell County Foundation Cancer Assistance Fund.