Glenna Stearman Park
I met Mary in the summer before 7th grade when she came to Sunday School at College Hill Methodist Church. My teacher took me aside and asked me to be Mary’s friend since she had just moved to Wichita. Helen Olson, Patty Pierce, Suzanne Porter, Carol Kendall, Cheryl Small, and others readily accepted her. We also 
walked home from school together for the next few years. Debbie Snyder and Brenda Benjamin joined us. Half-way home was our favorite spot, King’s Drug store, where we stopped daily for cherry cokes, and talk about the day’s events and then made plans for Friday night. Pete Meeds, Charlie Meeds, Calvin Ross and other guys mixed in and out of the social scene as we visited for 30 to 45 minutes. Then Mary and some of us continued up Douglas to College Hill and others went north on Hillside to the Wesley Hospital neighborhood. Those were leisure afternoons, where we discussed ideas and unwound from the school day.
As a group we did Friday nights at the local movie theaters, mostly the Uptown, the Crest, and the Boulevard. Our dress was noticeable as we wore boy’s zip up the front jeans, our fathers’ white dress shirts, and penny loafers. In the theater we sat as a whispering, giggling group that got regularly shushed by the ushers who threatened to kick us out. Mary always behaved. She was not a cheeky teenager, but she was amused. We were totally engaged in the romantic movies with Doris Day, Rock Hudson, Debbie Reynolds, Eddie Fisher, Cary Grant, John Wayne, Maureen O’Hara, Marlon Brando, Gary Cooper, Elizabeth Taylor, and more. We were learning about who we would grow up to be. Mary was smarter than all that, and we soon grew from movies to real life.
Mary’s mom was the Latin teacher, Mrs. Lohrenz. Her aunt was the music teacher, Ms Mary Reese. Mary always did her homework and thrived in her home’s academic atmosphere.
Mike Fox
“She did love her books. She used to argue with our son-in-law about books and he taught reading and writing in middle school. She loved the classics (among others), he not so much for teaching. She had finally found a small group of serious readers here at La Posada and was so excited about the prospect of joining the group. And loved the public libraries and had issues with publishers limiting the sale of ebooks. Her first question when talking with friends was “read any good books lately?” And if a book didn’t suit, she would put it down and find another that did. Rest In Peace, dear Mary.”
Obituary: Wilton Bulletin, Wilton, Connecticut
