Marie Ann Schroeder, 67, of Waterloo, died peacefully on May 10, 2025, with her husband Gary by her side holding her hand. Marie was born in St. Louis on June 21, 1957. Gary always told people that Marie’s birthday was the longest day of the year, but that day wasn’t usually long enough, so her birthday celebration would go on for days or weeks.

Marie was raised in Waterloo, where she attended Ss. Peter & Paul Catholic School. She was a 1975 graduate of Gibault Catholic High School and a graduate of Southwestern Illinois College. 

After graduating from college she went to work at the St. Louis office of Marshall & Stevens, a national valuation company. She met Gary, who also worked for Marshall & Stevens – but in the Los Angeles office – when Gary went to St. Louis for a company meeting. 

A long distance friendship started with bets made on Cubs and Cardinal games, as Gary was a Cub fan, being from Crystal Lake near Chicago, and Marie was a Cardinal fan. Gary lost most of the bets and was constantly mailing Marie her winnings. After a few years of a long distance friendship, Gary had the chance to move to the Houston or St. Louis office of M&S. 

Luckily for him, he chose St. Louis. Marie and Gary were married on April 22, 1989 in Waterloo.

In 1993 Marie and Gary, along with Ray Klaris and John Thomson started Klaris Thomson & Schroeder, Inc., a national valuation company with offices in six cities throughout the U.S. with Waterloo being the headquarters. 

Marie was the operations manager/controller and paid the bills and deposited the checks for the whole company and kept all of the books.

Marie loved life and lived it to the fullest. She was always on the go and always tried to brighten someone’s day with a compliment or by lending a helping hand. She loved sending cards to people for any occasion or just because. 

She loved her family, brothers, brother’s-in-law, sister’s in law, cousins, her uncle and many nieces and nephews, a great-niece and great-nephew and her friends, of which she had many.

She loved to travel. She and Gary went on numerous trips in the U.S. and overseas. She especially loved river cruises on the Rhine or Danube and train adventures such as through the Canadian Rockies and throughout the Alps in Switzerland. On some trips Marie and Gary would go it alone, but on most trips she enjoyed going with friends as well.

Marie was very active in the community. She was a member of the Monroe County Home and Community Education Association women’s group as various county officer positions and unit officer positions throughout the years. 

She was also a member of Mary & Martha women’s group of Ss. Peter & Paul Catholic Church where she also held various officer positions. She also served as a member of the finance council of the church. She was a volunteer at Helping Strays. She also served as the co-chair of several golf tournaments for the American Red Cross and for the Illinois Make-A-Wish Foundation. 

Marie enjoyed golfing and was a member of the Waterloo Country Club where she golfed on both the ladies and couples leagues. Marie was also an avid photographer and many of her photos won awards or were featured in local calendars. Marie was also a generous supporter of many charities and causes.

Marie will be profoundly missed. Her “ta-da!” with arms outstretched, her telling us to “take it a day at a time,” and her assuring us, “IT’S ALL GOOD!”

Marie is survived by her husband, Gary, her brothers Patrick (Letha) Costello and Paul Costello, her uncle, Don Siegal, brother’s-in-law, David Schroeder, Michael (Sandy) Schroeder and Steven (Dorothy) Schroeder, cousins. Josie (John) McCarthy, Rose (Tom) Fagan and Pauline McDonald and many nieces, nephews, great niece, great nephew, and friends, as well as her rescue dogs, Max & Sadie. She is also survived by her and Gary’s adopted mother, Arlene Notter and the whole Notter clan, who always treated Marie and Gary as part of their family.

She is preceded in death by her parents Maurie and Joan Costello, her uncle and aunt Richard and Carolyn McDonald and her pups Sam, Suzie and Sophie. 

Visitation is 4-6 p.m. May 18 and 8-9:30 a.m. May 19 at Quernheim Funeral Home, Waterloo

Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. May 19 at Ss. Peter & Paul Catholic Church, Waterloo with Father Linus Umoren officiating.

Interment will follow at Ss. Peter & Paul Cemetery in Waterloo.

As an expression of sympathy, the family prefers memorial contributions to: Helping Strays; Gibault  Catholic High School; Ss. Peter & Paul School; or Ss. Peter & Paul Church.