Last month we lost one of our dearest members, Mary Donovan. Although she returned to the States several years ago, she continued to stay in touch. We all express our sad feelings to her wife Miriam,
and treasure her memories. The following was written by Memory. RIP
Mary Elizabeth Donovan, a
master’s degree graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Nursing and
a longtime nurse and nurse practitioner at the both UT Medical Center and the
Massachusetts General Hospital, died from complications of heart surgery on
January 22, 2020.
The daughter of Donald Donovan and Pauline Edna Hensley, she
was born in Norman, Oklahoma in 1944.
When World War II ended the
family moved to Los Angeles, California, where Mary grew up. It was an
era of good public schools and rec center sports, at which Mary excelled.
She graduated from Pico Rivera High School in Pico Rivera, CA.
Mary’s mother and aunts were
exceptional musicians, so Mary took piano lessons. The flute became her
most beloved instrument. The best teacher in her life was her flute teacher,
who taught at Whittier College. She sang in choirs at Whittier churches.
As a teenager she joined a Conservative Baptist church.
Her parents did not have the
money to send her to college, but supported her desire to go. She
enrolled in San Jose State College as a music major. Unable to afford to live
on campus, she had trouble finding a community. She transferred to
Pillsbury Baptist Bible College in Owatonna, Minnesota. There she stood out as
a musician, majoring both in music and Bible.
After a year of teaching at
Maranatha Baptist College in Watertown, Wisconsin, Mary realized that she could
not make a living in music except at a Bible College or as a primary school
teacher, jobs she did not think herself suited to. So she enrolled in
Mankato State College in Mankato, MN to earn a B.S. in Nursing.
On graduation she took a job at
the famous Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. She wanted
to “see the country” before returning to California to settle down.
In Boston she enjoyed too much
professional excitement and too many friends at “the General” to think of going
home. She specialized in gerontology and radiation therapy, earning national
certifications in those fields. She and her friend Peggy, also a nurse, bought
on the Public TV auction the first house renovated on the TV show “This Old
House.” She joined the hospital women’s softball and basketball teams.
In the summer of 1986 she met
Miriam Levering, a professor at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. A
year later she moved to Knoxville to share her life with Miriam. At the UT
College of Nursing she earned a Master’s Degree in Nursing and became a nurse
practitioner.
Miriam took Mary to an evening
business meeting at the newly founded Westside Unitarian Universalist Church in
Farragut. Hearing that the church had no pianist, Mary volunteered to play the
piano for church services twice a month. Later she led choirs at that
church, as well as continuing to play the piano. She served as member and
musician there for 32 years.
Mary’s first job in Knoxville
was at the Knox County Health Department in pre-natal care. Mary next got
a job in cancer nursing at the University of Tennessee Medical Center, the one
“teaching hospital” in Knoxville. As a nurse practitioner, her job was to
assist a gynecological oncologist. Later she worked in the Cancer Department’s
Clinical Trials office. She retired from the UT Medical Center in 2008. Miriam
and Mary were married in Massachusetts in December of that year.
Mary’s passion during her years
in Knoxville was folk music and contemporary accoustic music. She joined
the Board of Jubilee Community Arts, as well as represented Jubilee Community
Arts on the Board of Community Shares. She served as the programmer and DJ of
Jubilee Community Arts’ Sunday radio show on WUOT, “Live at Laurel,”
broadcasting a 20-minute excerpt from a recent concert at the Laurel Theater,
plus a selection of music by other artists who had appeared there.
In retirement Mary spent five
years in Japan teaching English to college graduates at the Rissho Kosei-kai
seminary for the future staff and leaders of that Buddhist group. She
also taught “Physical Assessment” to nursing graduate students at St. Luke’s
College of Nursing in Tokyo. With Miriam she joined the international women’s
club in Tokyo called The College Women’s Association of Japan, founded in
1945. She was very active in that club’s music interest group, Friends of
Music. She became co-leader of the group, as well as the choral director
for a time. She made wonderful friends there, as well as at Rissho
Kosei-kai’s International Buddhist Congregation. There she played the piano and
led singing every Sunday morning. In addition, she contributed to the meetings
and activities of the Tokyo Unitarian Fellowship.
Returning to the United States,
she and Miriam began to spend four winter months in Sanibel, Florida.
Mary and Miriam both joined a Unitarian Fellowship and a Writing Group there.
In Sanibel and Fort Myers Mary found several outstanding choral groups to sing
with. Singing with the choir of the Sanibel Congregational United Church of
Christ Church under Elwood Smith was a wonderful experience. In a student and
community choral group led by Prof. Ron Doiron at the SW Florida State College
in Fort Myers, Mary performed the German Requiem by Brahms, a dream come
true.
In Knoxville, Mary joined the
International Friends Club of Tennessee, and the “Singing Seniors” at the John
T.O’Connor Senior Citizens Center. In addition, Mary was invited to join
the Schola Choir at the Holy Ghost Roman Catholic Church on N. Central
Ave. To join the “Geezer’s Band” at the John T. O’Connor Senior
Citizen’s Center, she took up the harmonium, enjoying being an instrumentalist
again
Mary is survived by her spouse,
Miriam Levering of Knoxville, her brother Sean Donovan of Sedona, AZ, her
sister Dolores Neeley of San Ramon, CA, many cousins with whom she grew up in
California, and nieces and nephews.
A Memorial Service will be held
at the Westside Unitarian Universalist Church on Saturday, Feb. 15 at 2 p.m..
Donations in Mary Donovan’s
name may be made to the “Music Fund” of the Westside Unitarian Universalist
Church, 616 Fretz Road, Farragut, TN 37934.
