Mary was my friend. She called me her adopted son. I never corrected her on that score; although I tried to correct her on other scores, mostly to no avail. Mary sat thru many of my public speeches and eulogies of people who had passed on. After one particularly emotional eulogy, she came up to me and said "I hope that you saved some nice things to say about me when I’m gone". I assured her that I had plenty of things that I would want to say when her time came.

Mary was a life-long resident of Cambridge. At times, it seemed that she knew everybody in the city. She was a network person. News flowed through her. Unlike so many other network people, Mary acted on much of the neighborhood news. She had an opinion about all of it. And, she was often part of a committee to work on the issue.

But, first and foremost, Mary was a mom. She brought up three children and fought for the best education for all of them. She loved them dearly and was so proud of them, their accomplishments and the grandchildren. She cared for her family and then for the community. She helped raise a lot of Cambridge kids, first as a Headstart preschool teacher and then she took them into her home.

Mary was a connecting link to Cambridgeport’s past. Some of her stories are legendary. Some of you have heard them more than once. Her description of what her father looked like when he returned from work at the Simplex Wire & Cable Company just the other side of Brookline Street could make your skin crawl. Covered with dust and dirt all over his body, the first thing he did was head for the shower. She described how, as a child, she brought him his hot meal to the factory.

She vowed that she would till the soil and grow vegetables downstairs from her Acorn Street apartment until she was no longer able. And she did that, in memory of her father. After she moved to Magazine Street she became part of the Simplex Community Garden on Emily Street and gardened there for the rest of her life.

Known as the "heart of the Simplex Steering Committee" for eighteen years, she was a force for affordable housing and resisting MIT expansion. She walked so many picket lines, particularly at the MIT graduations; she was on a first name basis with MIT administrators and police. For twenty years she was a member of the Ward Five Democratic Committee and a poll worker for the Cambridge Election Commission.

Mary was a caring, involved community worker, whether it was providing assistance to older residents of her building or testifying before city council on public policy. She was persistent and tireless in her efforts to involve her neighbors in every major issue that affected her neighborhood. She gave generously to the Albany Street Shelter for the homeless. She organized around the closing of the Memorial Drive Stop and Shop and was a member of the ad hoc committee for handicapped and senior citizen access to MBTA busses. If a politician promised to support her issue but didn’t come thru, she never let that politician forget it. And publicly, she wasn’t quiet about it either.

Mary was committed, loyal, down to earth, straightforward, and at times, in your face. She cared passionately about her family and her community. I loved her for that. She was my friend. I will never forget her or her legacy.

[Photo Oct 87 Gary Quinton]