Mary Katherine Laughlin was born November 27, 1922 in rural Mills County, Iowa to Tom and Katie (Maher) McDonald.  She passed away on March 10, 2021 at the Accura Healthcare of Shenandoah, Iowa.

She graduated from St. Patrick's Academy in Imogene, Iowa in 1940.  Mary became an elementary teacher.  She taught in one room schoolhouses in Mills County until her marriage to Louis Edward Laughlin on June 28, 1950 at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Imogene, Iowa.

Mary worked on the family farm with her husband raising purebred polled shorthorn cattle.  Cattlemen came from across the United States and Canada to purchase from their breeding stock.

Mary was an active member of St. Patrick Catholic Church in Imogene.  She remained on the farm until an illness in 2014 when she moved to Elm Heights Care Center in Shenandoah.  The family would like to thank the staff at Elm Heights for their excellent care and compassion that Mary received while a resident.

Joining Mary in heaven are her husband, parents, brothers Jim (Ruth) McDonald, Emmett McDonald and John McDonald, sister Eloise McDonald (Paul) Kaiser, brothers and sisters-in-law Frank Eller, Matt (Helen) Laughlin and Lucille (Bob) Jardon, nephews and nieces Mike McDonald, Ed Laughlin and Blanche Laughlin.

Mary is survived by daughters Jane Sullivan and husband Tim of Urbandale, Iowa and Kathryn Harbor and husband Jack of Emerson, Iowa, grandchildren Barry (Taryn) Sullivan, Kyle Sullivan and Mary Katherine Harbor (Austin) Driver, great-grandchildren Lochlan and Declan Sullivan and anticipated arrival of a third great-grandchild to Mary (Austin) Driver in May, sister Eleanor McDonald Eller and sister-in-law Ann (Emmett) McDonald and Marge (John) McDonald, several nieces and nephews that she loved dearly.

Mass of Christian Burial will be held 10:30 a.m., Saturday, March 20, 2021 at the St. Patrick Catholic Church in Imogene.  Visitation with family will be held from 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. with Rosary to follow on Friday, March 19, 2021 at Hackett-Livingston Funeral Home in Shenandoah.  Burial will be held at the Mt. Calvary Cemetery in Imogene.  Memorials may be directed to the St. Patrick Catholic Church Building Fund.  The mass will be live streamed on the church's Facebook page: www.facebook.com/stpatrickimogeneiowa/