Mary Herbel Obituary

Mary Esther (Bell) Herbel, 82, Colby KS passed away on Thursday October 16, 2025, at Shawnee Parc Facility in Overland Park, KS.

Mary was born on June 8, 1943 in St. Francis, KS and was the daughter of Loren “Claude” and Marie (Appel) Bell. She grew up on the family farm in McDonald, KS with her parents and brother where she helped at the family farm during her childhood. She graduated from McDonald High School in 1961 with many of her friends that she remained in contact with until she passed. After high school Mary moved east to attend nursing school at the University of Kansas. She received her BSN from KU in 1965. In 1971 she welcomed her son Loren and in 1981 she welcomed twin daughters Mollie and Marie. She was a dedicated and loving mother to her children. One of her favorite things in life was spending time with her children/grandchildren. She was always up for playing games, making crafts and baking with them.

Mary worked as a nurse at KU Medical Center from 1965-1973 before moving to Colby, KS. While in Colby, KS she worked as a nurse in many different aspects of nursing for over 50 years. She worked at the hospital, taught CNA courses at Colby Community College and towards the end of her career was doing health assessments for the State of Kansas Area Agency on Aging. Mary was loved and respected by the community and those she worked with over the years. She helped many people during her lifetime from taking those who needed rides to appointments to just sitting and talking to those that were lonely and needed a friend. Beyond her career her favorite hobbies were crafting and sewing. She made many of her children’s clothes and later in life she was dedicated to her quilting. She had many friends whom she quilted with routinely and had many stories from her quilting retreats. She was very dedicated to her sewing/quilting and all that have seen her quilts can attest to how stunning they came out.

She is preceded in her death by her parents Claude and Marie Bell and her brothers, Charles Marion Bell and Ronald Claude Bell.

Mary is survived by her 3 children, Loren Senior (Amy) and 4 grandchildren Ashlyn, Taylor, Collin and Nathan of Scottsdale AZ, Mollie Rall (Bryan) and 2 grandchildren Lynelle and Johanna of Lenexa, KS and Marie Herbel (Mike) of Overland Park, KS. She is also survived by her sister-in-law Cheryl (Cherry) Bell and her children Charles (Shelly), James (Debbie), Robert (Mindy). She is leaving behind multiple extend family members, many friends, and colleagues in the Colby/NW KS vicinity.

There aren’t the words to express how much Mary meant to a lot of people and how much she will be deeply missed. Her smile, laugh and kind soul is flying high but will be missed by all of us still here.

A celebration of life will be at 10:00 a.m. Monday, November 10, 2025, at Baalmann Mortuary, Colby, KS. To honor Mary's lifelong dedication to nursing and education, memorials may be made to the Colby Community College Endowment Foundation for the Mary Herbel Nursing Memorial Scholarship, 1255 S. Range Ave., Colby, KS 67701 or sent in care of Baalmann Mortuary, PO Box 391, Colby, KS 67701. For information or condolences visit baalmannmortuary.com