Friday, January 3, 2025 | 11:00 AM
Mary, 61, passed away peacefully on December 20. Her cause of death was Alzheimer’s, which tried hard but utterly failed to prevent her from living by her motto “Carpe Diem.” She is survived by her husband, Alan; their daughters, Mattie and Sarah; their husbands, John and Greg; her sister, Patti; her husband, Mark; and her first baby granddaughter, expected in March of 2025. She is also survived by so many amazing friends and caregivers. Friends were everything to Mary and she was very intentional about those relationships.
Mary was the most amazing woman, who was known for her laugh. She was a woman full of integrity, grace, love, and purpose. With occasional help from her husband, Mary raised two amazing daughters. She was so proud of the strong, smart, and independent women they have become.
Mary had an incredible passion for outdoor activities. She was best known as the runner who never seemed to run out of energy and annoyingly never broke a sweat. Regardless of the weather, she loved being on the trails with the runner girls. She was very proud of qualifying for the Boston Marathon, which she ran wearing the names of friends who battled breast cancer. She also loved skiing, both nordic and downhill. She became a ski instructor to help teach other women who wanted to join their families on ski trips. She later taught three-year-old children to ski in Idaho, which were some of her fondest memories. Mary and Alan loved spending time biking together. Over the last 5 years, they covered more than 10,000 miles on their tandem bike in multiple countries.
Mary lived a life full of adventure through travel and loved sharing these experiences with her daughters. Some of those experiences included biking in the Pyrenees mountains, hiking to Machu Picchu, swimming with the dolphins in the Galápagos Islands, scuba diving in Bonaire, and traveling through China with her daughter’s Chinese language class.
Mary was an incredible and avid reader. As a child she would walk to the library in Minot, ND every week to get more books. She created “book worms” out of paper that hung on the walls to track the books read with her daughters, and organized book clubs for them and their friends. She also donated a significant amount of time to an organization called Room to Read, which believes in creating a world free from illiteracy and gender inequality. Mary believed strongly in their philosophy that when you teach a mother to read, they will teach their children to read as well.
Visitation will begin at 10:00 AM. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that any donations be made to Room to Read or the Alzheimer’s Association.
