Mary Josephine Detweiler

Mary Jo Detweiler (née Holmes), librarian, Christian educator, and beloved and adoring mother and grandmother, died on February 25, 2022. Mary Jo was born in Indianapolis to Burnham Babb Holmes and Josephine Seymour Holmes. She was raised in Muncie, where her father was an executive with Ball Corporation, with her siblings Douglas, Sally, and Dwight. She graduated from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor), where she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and later earned a master’s degree in library science from Indiana University.

Mary Jo met her future husband, the Rev. William R. Detweiler, at Waycross Episcopal summer camp. At the time, Mary Jo was in high school and working as a counselor. Bill, who was 12 years older than she, was ordained and had a leadership role in the camp. Once Mary Jo went to college, she and Bill began dating. Mary Jo surprised her college friends by returning from a senior year holiday and announcing that she was engaged. Married shortly after her college graduation, Mary Jo always said that she didn’t expect to marry at age 21, but that “Bill was the one.” She and Bill celebrated 50 years of marriage in 2013, modeling loving partnership and mutually respectful communication.

Early in their marriage, Mary Jo and Bill lived in New Orleans, where their two children were born, and enthusiastically enjoyed red beans and rice, oysters on the half shell, 12th Night parties, and Mardi Gras. In 1975, after living in Chicago and Springfield, Illinois, the family moved to Manassas, Virginia, for Mary Jo to accept a position as director of the Prince William County Library System. Bill, an immensely supportive husband, was always proud to say that they had moved for Mary Jo’s career. The Journal Messenger, a local newspaper, quoted the hiring committee as saying they had never had a woman as library director before, and she would need to—gasp—supervise men. Mary Jo directed the system for over ten years and was especially proud to develop “mini libraries” to serve all corners of the county. Upon her departure in May, 1985, The Potomac News editorialized, “Next week, Mrs. Detweiler will leave her post, and she will be missed. Hers was a voice of [library] advocacy combined with reason, of concern for people combined with professional skill. There could be no finer leader for the system.”

Mary Jo and Bill later moved to Alexandria, Virginia, and happily lived in the River Towers condominium community for over 20 years. Mary Jo’s career continued to flourish, as she built on her library experience by pioneering early library computer systems with Dynix, providing library staffing services for federal agencies, and teaching library science classes at Catholic University and George Mason University. At the close of her career, she again served as a librarian at the Virginia Theological Seminary, an Episcopal seminary in Alexandria.

Mary Jo and Bill were deeply involved with their church community at St. Mark’s on Capitol Hill. Mary Jo immersed herself in formation as a guide for the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, a religious education program that shares a foundation with Montessori education and is centered on fostering the relationship between God and young children. Her training and time as a guide deepened her own faith, profoundly influenced her relationships with her four young grandchildren, and fostered strong bonds with her fellow guides.

In 2016, after Bill’s death in 2014 and a series of health challenges including dementia, Mary Jo moved to Houston to live in an apartment at her daughter’s home. She found her final church home at Trinity Episcopal Church, where she especially loved the community’s jazz mass, passion for social justice, and authentic warmth. Mary Jo coped with dementia with her characteristic resilience and determination, always making the best of her circumstances and never losing her joy and good humor. She died peacefully at home on February 25, 2022, shortly after celebrating her 80th birthday with her children, their spouses, all four grandchildren, and a fabulous chocolate cake.

Mary Jo is survived by her sister Sally Nelson and husband Pete Nelson; her brother Dwight Randolph Homes and wife Michelle Burns; her daughter Elizabeth Detweiler and husband Guillermo O. Canizales; her son Hans William Detweiler and wife Julieanne Ehre; grandchildren Anna Leonor Canizales, Pablo Guillermo Canizales, Esther Ehre Detweiler, and Avi Burnham Detweiler; many beloved cousins, nieces, and nephews; and numerous cherished friends. She is predeceased by her husband of 50 years, Bill Detweiler; her parents; and her brother, Douglas Holmes. The family wishes to express deep gratitude to Fátima Gómez, a gifted and loving caregiver, who assisted Mary Jo in her final four years.

A memorial service will be held on Friday, April 8, 2022, at 3:00 p.m. at Trinity Episcopal Church, 1015 Holman Street, Houston, Texas 77004. In lieu of flowers, contributions in Mary Jo’s memory may be made to Trinity Episcopal Church in Houston (https://www.trinitymidtown.org/), Amazing Place (https://www.amazingplacehouston.org/), St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C. (https://www.stmarks.net/), or the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (https://www.cbf.org/index.html).

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.heightsfuneralhome.com for the Detweiler family.