Mary Elaine (Hayes) Griess, 85, left this earthly life on July 31, 2016, at Oakview Continuous Care and Rehab, Mt. Carmel, Illinois, surrounded by her loving children.  Graveside services at Highland Memorial Cemetery, Mount Carmel.

The youngest child and only daughter of William Samuel (Cotton) and Mattie Elaine Williams Hayes , Elaine was born on August 11, 1930, in Luling, Texas.  Her family moved to Olney, Illinois in 1938 when her father was transferred with Halliburton Oil Company and later moved to Mt. Carmel. 

Elaine graduated from Mt. Carmel High School with the Class of 1948.  She attended Olney Township High School until the end of the first semester of her senior year.  After Elaine married, she spent many years keeping books for local oil men while staying at home to raise her children and later began working in the insurance and billing office at Wabash General Hospital.  She also worked for Dr. Roger L. Fuller and Dr. Joseph Mohammed.  After her retirement, she worked part time at the Mt. Carmel Public Library.

Elaine was known for her witty sense of humor and her affectionate and generous spirit.  She adored her grandchildren and had a special relationship with each and every one of them.  Elaine was an avid reader and had a circle of friends in which they shared their love of books.  She also enjoyed playing golf in her later years.

She married Ernest “Ernie” Frank Griess on February 1, 1949, in Henderson, Kentucky and they celebrated 62 years together before his passing on December 25, 2011.  Together they had five children, Margaret Ellen (Robert) Storckman, Susan Elizabeth (Jack) Angle, Emily Carol (Dan) Teague, Ernest Paul (Cindy) Griess and Charles Robert (Robbie) Griess. 

She is also survived by seven grandchildren, Amy Hale, Sarah Trapp, Robert (Kelly) Angle, Richard Angle, Gunnar (Kim) Griess, Krieger Griess and Thomas Teague, and by great-grandchildren Chase Hale, Dane, Sommer and Kiptyn Griess and Jonathan Angle.

Preceding her in death were her parents, her husband, her son Robbie, her brothers, Bill, Earl and Jack Hayes. 

Short-Cunningham Funeral Home obituary posted – August 1, 2016