Mary T. Tomlinson

Charlotte - Mary Theresa Tomlinson, the wife of the late Robert Louis Schaeffer, was born in the old Wake County Hospital in Raleigh, NC on May 4, 1927, and died in Charlotte, NC on July 18, 2013. She was the daughter of the late Robert Bernard Tomlinson, Sr. and the late Florence Quinn Mowers.

As Sister Mary deChantal, she served as a member of the religious community of the Sisters of Mercy of Belmont, NC from 1945-1970. She was preceded in death by her sisters, Jane Boykin and Anne Quinn Duncan, and brothers, James Elroy, Charles Patrick, John William, Robert Bernard, Jr., John Peter, Earl, and Danny. She is survived by her brother, Harry; one sister, Florence L. Jordan; and many nieces and nephews. Her extended family was close and much loved.

Ms. Tomlinson began her formal education at the Cathedral School in Raleigh prior to her residency from 1935-1945 at the Catholic Orphanage in Nazareth, NC, operated by the Raleigh Diocese, and staffed by the Sisters of Mercy of Belmont, NC. She studied medical technology at Mercy Hospital in Charlotte, and was certified by the American Society of Clinical Pathologists (ASCP) in 1953. She received her BS from Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI in 1958, and earned a Masters of Business Administration in health care services in 1965 from The George Washington University in Washington, DC.

She held various positions during her lifetime, starting as a grade school teacher at St. Michael’s in Gastonia, NC, and as a monitor of a dormitory of twenty small boys at St. Leo’s Military Academy in Belmont, NC. After further education, she became an instructor at Mercy School of Nursing in Charlotte, an Associate of Arts program. There she taught microbiology, anatomy, physiology, chemistry, and laboratory procedures. She was on the staff of the Mercy Hospital Clinical Laboratory as a rotating med tech, and then was named Manager of the Clinical and Pathology Department, and Director of the Mercy School of Medical Technology. While completing requirements for an MBA, she was an administrative resident at Oak Park Hospital in Oak Park, IL, and followed this as an administrative resident at St. Vincent’s Hospital and Medical Center in New York City, NY. She was then named CEO of St. Joseph Hospital in Asheville, NC, where she was involved with the larger community, serving on many boards and committees. She was the first woman to serve as a member of the North Carolina Hospital Association Board of Directors. During this time, she was inducted in the American College of Hospital Administrators, an organization for whom she later lectured. While at St. Joseph’s, she worked with architects to plan a new hospital, which was later built, and today stands as a part of the Memorial Mission Hospital System. She was then recruited by Jack Ryan Associates, Inc., to work with his health care consulting firm in Washington, DC. She later was employed by The Georgetown University Community Health Plan as part of the senior management staff of an HMO at the university. In this same area of health care, she was employed for ten years at the Public Health Service in Washington, DC in the Health Services Management and Mental Health Administration. As Deputy Director of the Loan Branch, she assisted HMO’s in the development and oversight of twenty-six non-profit HMO’s throughout the United States. These were to serve as models for other developing health services organizations. In the government’s HMO Division, this was accomplished through a series of government grants and loans available from a twenty-six million dollar fund. The HMO Division also provided consultants to assist in the HMO’s organizational development and the provision of services, including the management, and a functioning Board of Directors. During this time, Ms. Tomlinson also lectured widely, and provided seminars to Boards of Directors. She lectured at the Health Services Naval School of Hospital Administration in Bethesda, MD, Group Health Association in Washington, DC, and AMCRA, and IPA in California. Her final employment, before retirement in 1989, was as a Senior Vice President of SunHealth, a Charlotte, NC hospital organization, which has evolved into Premier Health, based in Charlotte.

Ms. Tomlinson enjoyed painting, which included oils, pastels, and water coloring. She was an avid gardener, and spent considerable time in recording, with pictures and prose, the genealogy of her family.

Funeral services will be private. Harry and Bryant Funeral Home is providing arrangements. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested memorials be sent to the Sisters of Mercy of Belmont, NC, 100 Mercy Drive, Belmont, NC 28012 or to Daniel Stowe Gardens in Belmont, NC.