Ohio governor: Mother-in-law death

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced Monday morning that his mother-in-law, Mary Elizabeth Struewing, died this past week at the age of 95.

The governor issued a statement on his Instagram page. It reads:

Fran’s mom died this past week. Mary Elizabeth Struewing was 95. I have known her all my life.

My mother recalled holding me in church when I was a baby, sitting behind Mary who was holding baby Frances over her shoulder. In high school, when I would pick up Fran and her siblings to go to school, her mom was usually cooking breakfast. Even though I had eaten at home, she always insisted I eat again!

Mary was really a perfect mother-in-law. Most importantly, she was a wonderful grandmother to our eight children and to all her 25 grandkids and later to her great-grandkids. They knew that she loved any family gathering and would bring laughter and joy to any party!

Her greatest joy was having her kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids around her. In her late 80’s, she started inviting any of her family who could come to “margarita night” at the local bar every other Wednesday night. When we would arrive, we would not only see family members at the big table, but also several random people she had seen around town the week before and who she had invited to join us!

In addition to raising six children, she was my late father-in-law’s great facilitator in his home construction business. He built beautiful custom-built homes, one at a time, including one for my parents when I was growing up. Usually with a child or two in the car, she was his runner, making sure he always had the supplies he needed when he needed them. She kept the books for the business and was seen on more than one occasion with a hammer in her hand on a construction site! She was always a tireless worker, having grown up on a farm in Beavercreek, where as a child, she milked cows every day.

She loved flowers, made many of her own clothes, and was always the sharpest dresser in the room. She was kind to me when I was dating Fran and treated me like a son after we were married. I am lucky I married her daughter, lucky I became part of her amazing family, and blessed to have her as my mother-in-law.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine