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 | | Merry Mary | | | Friend of the Community Inducted 2005 [Now Deceased] | | | Photo: Israel Wright | | For more than 25 years of volunteer service
as a Lake View resident to such groups as Howard Brown Health Center,
NAMES Project, Chicago Gay Men's Chorus, Windy City Gay Chorus, Unison,
Dignity/Chicago, Archdiocesan Gay and Lesbian Outreach, Chi-Town
Squares, and Vital Bridges' GroceryLand Pantry.
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| As long ago as 1979, Merry Mary was one of
a group of volunteers from Howard Brown Memorial Clinic who gathered on
Tuesday nights at the Touché bar’s old location on
Lincoln Avenue after their volunteer time at the
clinic. In a day when men and women did not mix
in Chicago gay bars, Merry Mary was an
exception. | |
| Perhaps because so many of the customers had
seen or spoken with her at the clinic, no one
commented on the woman in “their” bar. Perhaps it
was because of Merry Mary herself, regarded as a genuinely caring and
nonjudgmental person. | |
| To this day, Merry Mary continues volunteering every Tuesday night at Howard
Brown Health Center. She was selected among the first group of “Friends for Life” by
the clinic in 1987 and was honored for her 25 years of volunteering in February 2005. | |
| When AIDS struck the gay community, Merry Mary stood by it, offering love and
compassion to several gay men who died quickly in the epidemic’s early days. She
personally made three panels honoring lost friends for the AIDS Memorial Quilt and
then volunteered to help with the Quilt’s first Chicago display at Navy Pier. | |
| Besides her Tuesday nights at Howard Brown, Merry Mary has also volunteered to
help all three community choruses: the Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus for 23 years, the
Windy City Gay Chorus for 25 years, and Unison for the past six years. | |
| Merry Mary was an early member of Dignity/Chicago and is now a member of
Archdiocesan Gay and Lesbian Outreach (AGLO Chicago). | |
| As a member of Chi-Town Squares for the past 15 years, she assists in staffing the
check-in table at the club’s square-dancing classes. | |
| For the past three years, Merry Mary has taken on the added task of helping Vital
Bridges’ GroceryLand program by collecting plastic bags from friends, neighbors,
and area businesses. | |
| She is a lifelong Chicago resident. She grew up, was married, and reared three
daughters and one son in the Lakeview neighborhood. Along with her many
commitments to LGBT organizations, she still finds energy to work part-time and
bake delicious fruitcakes. | |
| She is known to hundreds of people as Merry Mary because she is just that. Always
with a smile and warmth for everyone she meets, her friendliness is unsurpassed. Her
willingness to lend time to others is without measure. If there has been a rally, walk, or
march, her face was probably seen there, either in the midst of the action or, more
likely, on the sidelines helping to make it happen. | |
| For all of this and more, she was selected by the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of
Fame as a Friend of the Community. | |
| This biography is as of the induction date. It has not been updated. |
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