Mary Joan Beery passed away on October 1, 2021 at her home in San Rafael, California, at the age of 89. She was born on August 28, 1932, the middle child of a loving family of seven children born to John J. and Catherine (Merschman) Groene on a farm near Primrose, Lee County, Iowa. She dreamed of traveling the world and initially made it as far as Denver, where she worked as a secretary to support herself and her newly discovered love for skiing. Mary Jo (as she was known to her friends) was introduced by a mutual friend to her husband-to-be, Keith Beery, on a blind date. Keith was captivated by her beauty, spark and singing voice. They became engaged just before Keith was sent to Hokkaido, Japan as a Russian linguist for the Army. Soon thereafter, Mary Jo boarded a ship bound for Japan and married Keith in Tokyo on September 1, 1956. They lived in Japan for the next year, choosing instead of living on the Army base to rent a home in the lovely Tokyo neighborhood of Shimokitazawa. Mary Jo learned to speak enough Japanese to chat with neighbors and go shopping at the local market, and made lifelong friends with the Mitsuhashi/Matsuda family.
Four children, Natasha, Colleen, John and Michael, were born in four different states over the course of seven years while the family followed Keith’s pursuit of undergraduate, master’s, Ph.D., and postdoctoral work. Keith had originally planned to get a law degree, but after volunteering at an orphanage near Hokkaido his plans changed and he decided to dedicate his career to the needs of children. When he became a School Psychologist for San Rafael City Schools and joined the Child Study Unit at UCSF, the family put down roots in Marinwood on a cul-de-sac where the children were free to roam the nearby hills, and Mary Jo enjoyed the distant view of Mount Tamalpais and nature walks at nearby Blackstone Canyon.
Mary Jo volunteered in the public schools and in many community activities while raising the four children, always bringing her humor and creativity to every occasion. She encouraged an atmosphere of love, tolerance, and inclusiveness, welcoming her children’s friends, foster children, and exchange students to the home. Having graduated high school at age 16, she went back to school after the children were grown to earn a degree in Arts & Sciences at College of Marin. She played the piano and was a gifted writer of short stories and poetry. She organized camping trips and wrote a guide booklet to encourage families to get out and explore the Bay Area, called the What, Where, When Book. Her administrative and advisory support was crucial to her husband’s work of developing educational processes and materials for children with special needs, including the Beery VMI, an internationally respected test of visual-motor integration. She stretched the initially tight family budget by sewing homemade clothing, baking inventive birthday cakes, and making playdough from scratch for her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, who all adored her and basked in her love.
Mary Jo and Keith lived in Honolulu for three years in the 1980’s while Keith was on the faculty of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and Mary Jo volunteered as an adult literacy tutor. They considered retiring to Hawaii, but their desire to be near family brought them back to California. They visited Hawaii often, including celebrating their 50th anniversary on the Big Island with their children and grandchildren. In 2006 Mary Jo and Keith moved to Villa Marin, a retirement community in San Rafael, where Mary Jo volunteered on the environmental, library, and welcome committees, served as a poll worker, and enjoyed play readings and choral singing. After Keith died in 2010, Mary Jo continued to travel with her children to favorite places near and far, including local hula festivals, the annual tractor parade in Calistoga, trips to Hawaii, and memorable visits with her beloved Iowa family, where the game of Euchre brought loving competition to every family reunion.
Mary Joan Beery is survived by her four children: Natasha [Berkeley, California], Colleen [Ajijic, Mexico], John [Spring, Texas], and Michael [Santa Rosa, California], and by her son-in-law, William “Sandy” McCoy, and daughters-in-law Katie (Kirchner) Beery and Julie (Barbee) Beery; eight grandchildren: Maryam, Gregory, Kevin, Julia, Alexis, Ryan, Nicole, and Clara; two great-grandchildren, Jayden and Ava; her older sister Virginia Schulte and two younger brothers, Lester and Delbert Groene. Mary Joan’s husband, Keith E. Beery, preceded her in death, as did her brothers Robert Groene and John Groene, and her sister Cecelia Stotts.
Mary Joan Beery was a contributing member of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Marin for over 50 years. Memorial services will be announced at a later date. If you wish to honor her memory, the family hopes you will consider a donation or volunteering in support of a cause that speaks to her values.
COMPARTA UN OBITUARIO
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