[Dialogue] Mary Coggeshall

[Janice Ulangca]

Elise, thank you so much.  There are tears in my eyes, a smile on my face, and warmth in my heart.  Mary was someone I looked up to.
Janice Ulangca
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: George Packard 
  To: 'Colleague Dialogue' ; 'Order Ecumenical Community' 
  Sent: Friday, February 26, 2010 11:36 AM
  Subject: [Dialogue] Mary Coggeshall


  Dear Colleagues,

  Tomorrow is a memorial service for  Mary Coggeshall.   In honor of the many contributions that Mary made to the life and work of ICA, and knowing that many of us in the ICA network will continue to benefit from her wisdom, I share this bit of writing.

  In gratitude,

  Elise

  K. Elise Packard, Ph.D., Project Manager

  International Family Literacy Initiative

  ProLiteracy Worldwide,  www.proliteracy.org

   

   

  Losing Mary

   

        L
       
  ast month I received word of Mary Coggeshall's passing, and felt sadness at the loss of a friend and an ally in the work of peace and justice.  "Main Street Mary" had earned her name from neighbors who admired her passion for making good things happen in her own community. I knew her as someone who extended her main street to dirt roads continents away.

   

  I lost Mary once in Chile.  She was not lost, but I could not find her shortly after she was supposed to arrive in Santiago. She had ventured beyond the quiet streets of New Jersey to travel to Santiago to encourage our work in a small Chilean village during the time of the Pinochet government. In the political environment of that era, people were "disappeared"; so not knowing if Mary had arrived, or where she and her friend, Retty, might be staying was unsettling.  In 1978 there were no cell phones; in fact, there were no phones at all in the village. Making a call required walking several miles into the next town to call from the municipal office.  I walked, I called hotels...no Mary. That evening we were hosting a reception in Santiago for those who were supporting our work, so I traveled on the bus with members of our development team from the village to the city. When we entered the hotel, the site of the reception, there was Mary standing with Retty at the top of the stairs..smiling, saying "Welcome to Santiago."  Mary was at ease, in spite of having had to find her way from the airport to the hotel without the benefit of speaking Spanish.  She was in a new place, but she was not lost.

   

  Mary once said that when she, Retty and I got together, you could expect the unexpected. When I was asked to meet Mary and Retty at the airport in Chicago, I was determined not to lose them. This time, with the benefit of a telephone, I was right there when they arrived, ready to pack their luggage into the car and gracefully move through Chicago traffic.  As the three of us talked about past adventures and present concerns, I noticed that we were low on gas. I was relieved to find a gas station; but in exiting the car, I noted that we had a flat tire.  Mary and Retty were game to walk to a nearby ice cream store for a treat while a mechanic changed the tire. I was flustered, Retty found it humorous, and Mary was calm.

   

  In fact, Mary was calm driving the New Jersey Turnpike, hosting a formal reception, sharing a cup of tea in her kitchen. Calm, but not shy about raising concerns and asking tough questions.  "Is what we are doing changing lives?"  "Are we beginning an action that will be sustained over years?" 

   

  I will no longer be able to share a cup of tea with Main Street Mary, seeking her advice. I won't  be able to laugh with her about old times; nor cook up plans for the future. But she is with me in the memory of her calm and her questions.  I can ask for her advice; and see her warm smile.

   

  We have lost Mary, but she is not lost 

   

                                                                                                                             Elise Packard, January 2010



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