Mary grew up in the small Massachusetts town of Webster, famous for its beautiful Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg! According to town legend, when children were able to pronounce the lake name correctly they could start school - and when they were able to spell it correctly, they were given a high school diploma and sent out into the world!
Mary learned to spell, left her small town and graduated from Northeastern University in Boston. She married, had two children, Stacy -married to Bob and mother of the world’s best granddaughter, Hayden, living in Sacramento CA and David - married to Samantha and living in Monrovia CA.
The family moved often, and Mary feels each one was preparing her for her current position at St. Mark. In upstate New York, she served as president of a baby-sitting cooperative; in a small town in Washington she became a catechist for the first time, served her parish on the Religious Education Commission, helped inaugurate the Infant Baptism Preparation Program and was eventually hired as the Youth Program Coordinator. In Sacramento, California, she learned the ins and outs of Volunteer Management at local council of Girl Scouts-USA. Soon after moving to Tampa, she joined the staff of Metropolitan Ministries in the Volunteer Department, and later became its manager. Following a few years as a trainer with S.E.R.V.E., the volunteer arm of the Hillsborough County School District, Mary officially retired, and found herself involved in many ministries at St. Mark. She joined the staff as Ministry Coordinator in 2013, became certified through the Diocesan LPMI Program in 2014, and claims all the pieces of her life suddenly fell into place. She says, “I am so blessed to be using the gifts that God has given me and helped me develop, doing things I love to do, in a place I love to be! God really IS great - all the time!”