Mary Lou Vaughan

Mary Lou Vaughan, 83, of Sioux City, passed away Sunday, Nov. 6, 2016, at Sunrise Retirement Home.
Memorial services will be 1 p.m. Wednesday at Morningside Chapel, Christy-Smith Funeral Home. Burial will be in Memorial Park Cemetery. Visitation will be noon until service time Wednesday at the funeral home.
Mary Lou was born on Dec. 15, 1932, in Sioux City. She worked at the Crosstown Tavern for many years and then at Sarah's Candies.
Mary Lou married Hugh J. Vaughan, the love of her life, on March 7, 1975. They spent 34 happy years together before his death in 2009.
She was a friend of Lois for 46 years and held various positions including secretary-treasurer and alternate delegate for the State of Iowa.
Mary Lou loved making the best waffles in the world for her large, crazy family. She also loved traveling, attending social events, and most of all hosting friends and family at her kitchen table, where she always served up plenty of good food, conversation, and laughs. Her entire life was devoted to others, raising seven children and helping countless people with her wise advice and bottomless love. A supporter of the Boys and Girls Club, Mary Lou refused to ignore a child (or an inner child) in need. She always regretted not having brothers and sisters, so she extended her friendship and warmth to person after person, considering them all part of her great, extended family. She always said that in the final decades of her life she had the brothers and sisters she had always wanted.
She is survived by six children, George (Cheryl) Laursen, Gin (Tom) Kautzky, Linda (Garry) Dragoo, Cheryl (Rod) Rosenthal, Eric (Carolyn) Laursen, and Julie (Pat) Humphrey; 15 grandchildren; 29 great-grandchildren; and five great-great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Hugh Vaughan; her son, Larry Vaughan; a grandson, Chris Laursen; and a great-grandson, Tray.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Boys and Girls Club of Sioux City.