Mary J Robertson

Mary Robertson, 85, of Red Wing and formerly of Minocqua, Wis., died Saturday March 21 at her residence at Deer Crest.
Born Mary Joan Rowe on May 2, 1929, in Chicago to Royce and Marie (Jacobs) Rowe, she grew up in Wilmette, Ill., where she developed a lifelong love of music, the water and dogs. She attended Occidental College and earned bachelor's and master's degrees in music from Northwestern University. She taught school in Vallejo, Calif., where she met Bruce Robertson. They married in 1953 and moved to Evanston and then Wilmette where they raised their children and she taught piano. They later divorced.
She moved to Minocqua in 1980 where she belonged to St. Mathias Episcopal Church and taught piano in her home as well as taught at Nicolet College in Rhinelander, Wis. Mary shared her love of music, travel, art and food, taking Nicolet students to London and Paris every January she could. Active in the Lakeland Performing Arts Association, she supported and worked at the conservatory in its founding years. The success of private piano and harp students delighted her. She moved to Red Wing in 2011.
Survivors include her partner of more than 30 years, Don Penfield of Minocqua; daughter Emily Robertson Hood of Kirkland, Wash.; son Bill Robertson (Anne Jacobson) and granddaughter Mary Ellen of Red Wing; three nieces and their families. She was preceded in death by her parents; her brother, Royce; and sister-in-law Kathryn.
Memorial service will be held in Minocqua at a later date.
The family thanks Deer Crest's great staff for everything. Arrangements with the Mahn Family Funeral Home, Bodelson-Mahn Chapel. Online condolences may be left for the family at www.mahnfamilyfuneralhome.com