MarionMade!: Real-life Rosie the Riveter declares 'I’m a survivor'

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Mary Ellen (Miller) Dune, 97, of Marion, comes from a family line that extends back to the Mayflower. Another branch arrived in the United States in 1820.

“My great-great-grandfather, Hartman Dickhout, lived in Hesse Kassel, Germany. He had to pay a percentage of what they earned to the landowners. At age 19, he stowed away on a ship headed to America,” Dune said.

After working the mills in Pennsylvania, Dickhout married Mary Ellen Stinger and started farming. Dickhout walked 40 miles to hear President Abe Lincoln give the Gettysburg address.

“He was a sturdy man who was interested in history,” Dune said.

Dickhout bought a farm in Waldo, bringing much of the family along.

Dune’s great-grandfather, William Hartman Miller, was the second man in Marion County to sign up to fight for the Union in the Civil War.

“Grandpa Miller was captured. Others rode off for help. They saved him, but the Confederates took his boots,” Dune said.

Family line heads into the 20th century

Dune was born in the house her grandfather built outside LaRue in Dudley Township, Hardin County, in 1926. She was the oldest of eight children born to Harry C. and A. Marie Miller. Her maternal grandparents, William and Susanna (McWade) Weist, raised her for five years.

“Grandpa rocked me and sang German songs,” Dune recalls.

They read to her and played games by the light of gas lamps.

Susanna loved flowers, inspiring Dune’s lifelong love of gardening. Dune remembers watching her grandmother put potatoes in her apron to plant them. With child-like innocence, young Mary Ellen went behind her and picked up all the potatoes Susanna just planted.

Dune lived through the Great Depression and learned generosity from her grandmother.

“Grandma always fed people who were hungry,” Dune said.

From farming to the M-46 bomb line

Dune did everything on the farm, including milking cows from age 6. She attended a one-room schoolhouse. After it closed, Dune attended Waldo school until her father sold the family farm. Dune graduated from Cardington High School. She worked at the Scioto Ordinance Plant during World War II.

“I worked on the M-46 bomb line, filling cylinders with phosphorus cups. The phosphorus was hot and my hands swelled so much I couldn’t catch the cylinders,” Dune said. “I transferred to the M-49 line. As the last woman in line, I placed a purple-painted sponge on the nose cone, indicating the bomb was ready for detonation. They went to General MacArthur in the Philippines.”

After the war, the 18-year-old landed a job in Marion. Her mother found a room for Dune to rent and dropped her off. She was on her own.

“By evening, I decided that I’m a survivor. I’ve had some things to figure out, but so far I’m doing pretty well,” Dune said.

Dune processed payroll at Marion Power Shovel before she married and had three boys − Carroll, John and David Neidhart. After divorcing, Dune worked hard to support her children, including processing payroll at Huber.

Four more kids and four decades of happily married

Mary Ellen married Richard Dune and gained four more children. Together they had one more son. They were married for happy 40 years.

Dune didn’t slow down in retirement. Her son, John, challenged her to beautify the Marion County Fairgrounds. She and Trella Romaine organized volunteers to plant flower beds.

Dune is a charter member of the Creators’ Guild and an active member for 50 years. She enjoys many art forms including sewing, quilting, quilling and flower arranging, earning many fair ribbons. She also was a member of a Red Hat chapter for 20 years.

For her 97th birthday, her grandson, David B. Neidhart, took her on a ride on a combine.

“I’m just a farmer at heart,” Dune said.

Dune lives an active, independent life in Marion today.

“I’ve had so much fun. Life is what you make it. When I’m anxious, I talk to God about it. He doesn’t say too much, but I’m alright,” Dune says with a smile. “Don’t sweat the small stuff.”

This article originally appeared on Marion Star: The life story of Mary Ellen Dune and 97 years in Marion