Mary Couric Meade

Mary Couric Meade has left this earth and left a huge impression on so many lives. Due to the current pandemic and the respect for others safety we will not be holding any public funeral services. This will serve as a tribute and eulogy of sorts. Oddly, having lived for almost a century, Mary was born not long after the first pandemic of 1918 ended.

Mary was born in Miami, Florida on June 25th, 1925 to Dr. Edmunson S. Couric, MD and Mary Wagner Couric. She had one other sibling, a younger brother, Edmunson S. Couric, Jr. who was a prominent Miami Probate attorney.

Mary lived such a long and eventful life and left us with so many great stories. Memories that ranged through eras in time, travels, and experiences both good and bad. She was born during the Big Boom with all the luxuries. Then life changed as the Great Depression took hold. Next came World War II with all the rationing of meat, shoes and other supplies; lights out in the evenings and joining civic clubs to help the war effort. As the War ended, Miami Beach became the place to be. Imagine driving around in those big huge convertibles with glamorous sunglasses and head scarves, sunning all day at the beach-club cabanas and swimming in the ocean-filled salt water pools. When night fell, it was off to the supper and dance clubs, both in Miami and Havana, Cuba. We loved hearing the flamboyant stories of the mobster bosses during those days.

Mary’s education was all in Miami, from Cushman School to Miss Harris’ School for Girls, and finally the University of Miami graduating with 2 degrees in Chemistry and English. She was also president of her sorority, Zeta Tau Alpha, where she found life-long friendships.

After college, she tried at teaching high school in Miami but decided teaching in Havana, Cuba would be more exciting. Since it didn’t pay well and she had to return home frequently for travel visa reasons, her father refused to financially support that endeavor. She then became a stewardess for Pan American Airways on the Clipper planes. It was an exciting job going to fascinating places such as Cuba, San Juan, Buenos Aires and Cartagena. For a short-time she even became a model for travel brochures in South America.

She had a short-lived marriage with an FBI agent in Washington, DC. While there, she experienced a devastating loss of a stillborn little girl. It was something that affected her deeply and she never forgot the pain. She is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Mary moved back home to Miami and moved on with her life.

Later on, while working for Eastern Airlines as a ticket and gate agent, she met the true love of her life, John (Jake) Meade. They married and had 2 children, John (Jr) and Mary Catherine. Another tragedy befell Mary, as her husband suddenly died at the early age of 39, leaving her with 2 small children, ages 6 & 7 to raise alone. She was always a single mother after that point. She said her number one priority was her children and a new husband might distract her from her purpose. Mary made sure education and travel were priorities for her children.

Mary had moved back into her childhood home after her mother passed away in 1972. It was a large home and property and VERY old. It needed constant upkeep. This is where she began learning how to be her own handyman, landscaper and painter, as well as teaching her daughter how to do the same. She did it all, while working full time without complaining. She kept the house until 1989 when she decided it was time to relax and move to Miami Beach.

She had another great loss in 2008 when her son, John suddenly passed away at the age of 46. This was another tragedy that affected her deeply.

Mary had numerous careers while raising her children. She became a Para-legal, a Bank Officer, a Trust Officer, a Real Estate Agent, and even left work to trade in the Stock Market for a year. After retirement, she became a Condominium Association Manager, an office manager at a shipyard for several years, and even went back to being a bank teller for a few years in her late 70’s.

Travel had always been a passion for Mary. She began traveling extensively when she worked for Pan Am and had been to 54 different countries in her lifetime. In the late 90’s, she spent 7 years in Oaxaca, Mexico enjoying the culture and food. She taught English to many of the children living near her. She rode camels in Egypt, donkeys in Mexico, climbed the pyramids, the Great Wall of China, skied the Matterhorn, crossed the DMZ into N. Korea, gambled in Hong Kong, and walked in the same streets as Jesus. She loved learning the most she could from every place she visited. She always encouraged everyone to study as much as you can about a place before you get there. She often said, “You will love the county more when you get there and feel like you’ve been there twice”.

Her hobbies over the years have included playing golf and bridge, raising & showing orchids, researching family genealogy, making miniature doll houses, creating jewelry, sewing and quilting, crocheting for the infants in the NICU, working at the church womens’ guild, reading non-fiction, and following the stock market and politics (which about drove her nuts this year!).

She is survived by her daughter Mary Kong, son-in-law David Kong, their 2 children Alana and Nicholas, the apple-of-her-eye, great-grandson Kai, and sister-in-law Elrose Couric. She was affectionately known as Jimmy, Grandma and Gigi. Family was her focus; always giving, even when she went without. She moved across the country to help take care of them, all while providing knowledge and guidance for their personal growth.

Mary has left this earth but not before leaving us with so many legacies, as so many of our elders do. It is our choice to honor those special people in our lives by acting upon what they have instilled in us. From the love of family and friends, to striving for never-ending education, the excitement of travel, compassion for others, charity to others, unwavering faith, being honest as the day is long, and teaching others what you have learned, and especially the correct use of the English language! Many of her sayings such as “the one thing they can’t take away from you is knowledge”, “charity starts at home” and “your actions speak louder than words”, and her funniest and truest was “getting old ain’t for wimps!”.

On Monday December 7th, 2020, Mary passed away from natural causes while sleeping peacefully at home in Orlando, Florida. We know she is wrapped in God arms and has returned home to be with her beloved husband and son who are waiting for her. Mary will be laid to rest at Caballero Rivero Woodlawn North Cemetery in Miami, Florida alongside her family. We will miss her dearly and she will be forever in our hearts, until that one day when we will meet again.

In lieu of flowers, the family invites you to make a donation to United Service Org Inc (USO) – Arlington VA, the ASCPA, or UNICEF in Mary Meade’s name. These charities were very near and dear to her heart. Thank you very much.

You may visit Mary’s webpage “www.FamilyFuneralCareOrlando.com”. Please feel free to leave your condolences or share your memories with us.

CROSSING THE BAR by Alfred Lord Tennyson

Sunset and evening star, And one clear call for me!

And may there be no moaning of the bar, When I put out to sea,

But such a tide a moving seems asleep, Too full for sound and foam,

When that which drew from out the boundless deep, Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell, And after that the dark!

And may there be no sadness of farewell, When I embark;

For tho’ from out our bourne of Time and Place, The flood may bear me far,

I hope to see my Pilot face to face, When I have crossed the bar.

(This was requested by Mary to be read at her funeral. It was read at her grandmothers, her mothers and her brothers funerals as well.)