Mary A. Goetz, centenarian and homemaker

Mary A. Goetz, a centenarian and homemaker who was active in her church, died of heart failure Friday at the Senator Bob Hooper Hospice

House in Forest Hill. The Aberdeen resident was 104.

The former Mary Anna Louch was the daughter of Austrian immigrant parents who came from what is now the Czech Republic before World War I and settled in Harford County. Her father, Anton Louch, and his wife, Catherine Kral Louch, were dairy farmers.

One of seven children, she was raised on the family farm. Mrs. Goetz was a graduate of Bel Air High School, and in 1945, married Vernon “Bud” Goetz, a World War II veteran, who later worked in munitions testing at Aberdeen Proving Ground. He died in 2008.

She was a lifelong active communicant of St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church where she and other women ran a caring service in the church hall that planned and hosted meetings and weddings. The money they raised went toward the construction of a new church building that opened on All Saints’ Day in 1965.

“She was a very meticulous, meticulous housekeeper,” said Nancy Stanley, of West Friendship, who is married to Mrs. Goetz’s nephew, Joseph “Joe” Stanley.

“I don’t think she had any secret that led to longevity, but four of her siblings made it into their 90s,” her nephew said. “Up until six months ago, she was doing calisthenics every morning and she liked an occasional sip of a Czechoslovakian liqueur. She never smoked.”

Mrs. Stanley added, “she lived through 19 presidencies and survived the pandemic of 1917. When she turned 102, she didn’t want any birthday presents and asked people to make donations to the St. Joan of Arc School.”

Mrs. Goetz had been an avid gardener. Until very recently, she was still attending Saturday Mass at her church at 222 South Law St. in Aberdeen, and where a Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 10 a.m. Wednesday.

In addition to Mr. Stanley, she is survived by five other nephews and four nieces. Her son, Edward Vernon Goetz, died in 2000.