After Mike's death his body was brought back to Mary's house, before he was buried. Mary lost a piece of herself when Mike died. She did not want to comprehend life without him. Mary gave away his clothes to strangers rather than giving to charity. This was a way for many to feel less grief. It was too hard for her to see his clothing on another man. It would just bring back memories that she could not handle. Mary eventually moved out of the house with the children, in order to help with her grieving process. Mary could not afford much without Mike's income. She had the insurance proceeds she had received, but that was in the bank. Mary was smart and did not want to use all of the funds that she had received. Johnny had taken a job selling papers. This was not a high paying job, but it was income. He had to work hard in order to make any money, but he did what he had to do for that paycheck.
Money was tight for Mary and her family. She tried her best to provide for them, but without the income of Mike and his support, Mary was stuck. When Christmas came, she was unable to provide presents for her children. She had written a note from Santa Claus explaining that he would come back at a later time. Mary did however, put nut, fruit and nickels in the children's stockings. .
After Christmas, Mary became ill and contracted Spanish Inflenza. It was an epidemic that was spreading and did not have a positive outcome. She became weaker as the weeks went on. The coughing and convulsions continued. She eventually coughed up blood and knew at that point she was dying. The sanitarium had accepted to take all four of the children after her passing. Before she died, she vistited Mike's grave one last time. After Mary's death Dobie and Anna received Mary's insurance money, but they had a discussion of who wanted the smaller children. Anna took Agnes and Dobie took Mikie. Dobie then moves to Detroit in order to find a better job.
