Mary Louise Amiot

Mary Louise Amiot, 84, of Crookston, MN, passed away peacefully at her home early Sunday morning, December 4, 2022, with loving family by her side.

Mary Lou, as she was affectionately known throughout her life, was born on July 31, 1938, to Louis and Louise (Noel) Audette on their farm near Huot, MN. She was baptized and confirmed in the Catholic faith, then attended elementary school at Huot, and Lafayette High School in Red Lake Falls through her junior year. The family moved to Crookston in 1955 where Mary Lou graduated from the St. Joseph’s Academy as a member of the Class of 1956. She then began working for Fr. John O’Toole at the Our Northland Diocese newspaper. On July 6, 1957, she was united in marriage to Kenneth Joseph Amiot in St. Anne’s Catholic Church, Crookston. During the ensuing years their marriage would be blessed by the births of Deb, Deanna, Doug, Denice, and Dale. In 1966 Mary and Ken opened Ken’s Drive-In in Crookston and ten years later purchased The Kegs in Grand Forks, ND from Martha Muzzy. Six months after that they opened Your Host Drive-In in Crookston. From 1992 through 2003 Mary Lou was employed in dining services at the University of Minnesota-Crookston. In retirement she began volunteering at the Mount Saint Benedict Monastery and Riverview Hospital Gift Shop. Mary Lou couldn’t resist the lure of the food business so for ten years she worked part-time for New Horizons, the company that operated the RiverView Cafeteria.

Mary Lou is lovingly survived by Ken, her husband of 65 years; their 5 children: Deb (Dave) Sylvester and Deanna Fredericks (Tim Wise) of Crookston, MN, Doug (Glenda) Amiot, Denice (Scott) Tangen, and Dale (Cheryl) Amiot, all of the Minneapolis area; 12 grandchildren; 18 great-grandchildren; brother, Noel Audette of Red Lake Falls, MN; sister, Rita Amiot of Crookston; brother-in-law and sisters-in-law: Rod and Marilyn Amiot of Crookston, Sylvia Grenz of Jamestown, ND, and Carol Amiot of Minneapolis; and many nieces, nephews, and friends.  

She was preceded in death by her parents, Louis and Louise Audette; granddaughter, Ona Nicole Amiot; great-granddaughter, Brooklyn Rae Sylvester; brother, Kenny Audette; grandparents, Henry and Eugenie Cassavant and Antone and Exerine Noel; parents-in-law, Omer and Eva Amiot; and brothers-in-law: Andy, Rosaire, and Philip Amiot, and Donald Grenz.

A private family Mass will be held for Mary Louise Amiot. Memorials may be given in her memory to the Mount Saint Benedict Monastery or Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. The Stenshoel-Houske Funeral Home is assisting the family with funeral arrangements and messages of condolence may be conveyed to the family by going to Mary Louise Amiot’s obituary page at www.stenshoelhouske.com