[Oe List ...] [Dialogue] Mary Coggeshall

[RICHARD HOWIE]

SNOW!  ah yes, we've had plenty here in the East.  Our neighbors  
tulips were trying to come up when we got it!
Ellen
On Feb 27, 2010, at 9:04 AM, Terry Bergdall wrote:

> Alas, I went to the airport last night to fly to Newark for today's  
> memorial:  all flights on all airlines from Chicago had been  
> cancelled. I will communicate with the family. Terry
>
>
> On 27 Feb 2010, at 07:16, RICHARD HOWIE wrote:
>
>> Opps!  Terry, I meant to address this to you, as you are present  
>> at Mary's service on behalf of us all.
>> Ellen
>> On Feb 26, 2010, at 11:56 AM, Terry Bergdall wrote:
>>
>>> Thanks, Elise. I will be attending the memorial service tomorrow  
>>> on behalf of ICA and will be taking messages, your and others,  
>>> from our community to give to the family. Terry
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 26 Feb 2010, at 10:36, George Packard wrote:
>>>
>>>> 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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>>>
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