10 March, 2010
On this day I sent the email below to family and friends. It is self-explanatory.
Here are links to my own last visit to Austin, and to the archive piece I wrote on Mom’s brother, George Maclaine, one in which she figures prominently, and from which something of her remarkable character can be gleaned.
Dear Family and Friends,
Last evening, Tuesday, around 9pm, Mary Berry passed away. She had just returned home from a stay over several weeks in hospital where she overcame a bout of pneumonia.
On Saturday she confided three things to Steve, who passed them on to Nancy. That whenever she went to the hospital she felt she lost ground. That she thanked us all for the effort of helping her. And that she was not afraid of dying. To Nancy she later said she was happy to have gotten home again.
Her children and John, her husband for the last three decades, grieve her loss. We are grateful for all she gave us.
According to her wishes, there will be a memorial service in the near future, probably at the Unitarian Church to which she remained committed for the second half of her life. We’ll pass on that information as soon as we have it.
George