Your story reminds me of how Homer was in the 1960s through late 1970s; with the greater good furthered by kindness and fair judgement; and I thank you for sharing perspective on a great lady along with a light overview of her being a pillar of local life here.

Sounds like Mary would have known my father, who now is in his early 90s and has health issues, so he is in a care facility in western Washington; and no longer does the things he lived for... 

You may remember the 40+ tenure of a KPCC/UAA teacher who'd laugh at the idea of his being a crusty old professor; who'd hike and teach courses he invented. He retired and with his wife, drove from Kenai to Belize and lived several years in the rain forest where he continued to learn and teach. But his second love was Alaska. Learning and teaching were first nature, as he cared as Mary about people and the future we have an obligation to bring forward.

And I remember KPC was generally an after hours classroom in a public school...