Mary Ellen Toll

Mary Ellen Toll, 72, of South Bend, Indiana, and Union Pier, Michigan died November 26, 2025, at the Ernestine M. Raclin House, Mishawaka, Indiana.

Mary was preceded in death by her mother, Jeanette Shambleau Toll, her father, John David Toll, and her brothers Richard J. Toll and Christopher R. Toll. On December 17, 1983, she married William L Heimann at Sacred Heart Basilica who survives. She is also survived by her many beloved nieces and nephews.

Mary Ellen was born August 13, 1953, in Oak Park, IL. Her family moved to Louisville, Kentucky, and then to South Bend, IN, where she graduated from St. Joseph High School and enrolled at St. Mary’s College. There she found lifelong friends who dubbed themselves The Augusta Five and engaged in very modestly wild shenanigans.  Following the great non-merger of St Mary’s and Notre Dame, she transferred to the University of Notre Dame to complete her math degree.

Her career in Information Technology began at Clark Equipment, Buchanan MI, proceeded to Associates in South Bend and landed for 41 years at the University of Notre Dame. In the early years, she wrote programs for the university including the first football ticket lottery. As the Information Technology field evolved, her assignments varied including supporting the Provost’s office and manager for the Administrative computing group. Her last decade at UND, she served as the university’s software licensing manager ensuring that everyone had the software they needed and that the use of the software complied with the terms of their contracts. Some might say that she took a fiendish delight in nailing users who used software beyond the contractual limits and copying defective passages of code to send back to the vendor for revisions. Anything written to Mary in an email could and would be used against them years later.

To Mary, math and computer tech were a means to make a living. Her passion was the visual and performing arts. She had a superb eye for art.  In the early days of their marriage her husband, William, had some say and even a veto over the art that would come home. However, that power faded over time.

As a child she fell in love with dance and continued to take lessons for decades – not to perform in public – but for the joy of movement and music. Her contributions to the community came through theater. She acted with South Bend Civic, Elkhart Civic, and Acting Ensemble. Theatre companies of the past include: Theatre Lady, Presbyterian Players and Hierophant Theatre (Tuesday nights at the original Vegetable Buddies bar). She met and swept William off his feet as the queen of the fairies in a children’s theatre adaptation of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” She was attracted to the powerful women of “Laughing Wild,” “August: Osage County,” and “Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mama’s Hung You in the Closet and I’m Feelin’ So Sad.” Her final comic performance in “Grand Horizons” dislodged audience members’ dentures.

Mary delighted in creating special moments for others. Birthday parties, neighborhood gatherings, and family beach days are cherished memories for the lucky ones. Her gifts to others always carried the spark of her deep understanding of the recipient.

Her generosity to others extended to her many furry friends. Throughout her life, a neighborhood walk with Mary was interrupted by enthusiastic tail wagging, prancing and whining with the joy of recognition – no treats were needed.

A funeral mass will be said for Mary 2:30pm, January 13, 2026, at Sacred Heart Basilica. A celebration of life will follow at a site to be determined.  Her remains will be inurned at Cedar Grove Cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be made in Mary’s name to the Food Bank of Northern Indiana, 702 Chapin St., South Bend, IN 46601 or the Glioblastoma Foundation, P. O. Box 62066, Durham, NC 27715.

Palmer Funeral Home – River Park Chapel – is assisting the family.

Online condolences may be expressed to the family at www.palmerfuneralhomes.com.  

To send flowers to the family, please visit our floral store.