Mary T. Blue

Born September 11, 1946, MARY T. BLUE, of Dennis, formerly of Norwood passed away with Renal Cell Carcinoma on July 30th, 2013 at home. Mary was the beloved wife of Gary T. Owens. She was the daughter of the late Mike and Tootie Bongo and the Aunt of her pre-deceased nephew, Gregory Bongo.

She was raised and educated in Norwood. She moved to Denver, Colorado in her early 20’s where she went to work for the phone company. She became a Job Steward for the Communications Workers of America (CWA), Local 7777 in Denver. She was elected Vice President of the Union and served 6 years. She then was elected President and served an additional 6 years. While serving as President of the Local Union, she co-founded Colorado Jobs With Justice. After serving as President, she accepted a position as Director of the Colorado Employment and Training Program with the Colorado AFL-CIO. This was a statewide program dedicated to assisting laid off workers with training and job placement. The model that her team created was ultimately used as the format for the newly created state training and retraining program. She then applied for and was accepted as Labor Director for the State of Colorado. Mary always said that she was blessed by getting paid to do what she loved to do – work toward the betterment of wages and working conditions for the working class.

In 2001, she returned to Massachusetts to help take care of her aging parents. Although she loved the mountains of Colorado, she settled in the Cape Cod area that always lingered in her heart. She acquired a pup named Cooper and put him through all of the required training necessary for certification as a Therapy Dog. She was committed to visiting nursing homes and various children’s programs with her best friend, Cooper. She was elected as the Director of Therapy Dogs International, Chapter 253 in 2012.

In addition to her beloved husband, Gary, and her best friend Cooper, she is survived by her siblings, Louise Vanderbilt and her husband Paul of Castle Rock, CO, Theresa Andrews and her husband Al of Norwood, MA, Mike Bongo of Norwood, MA and Judd Bongo and his wife Karen of Mansfield, MA. She also leaves behind her Daughter-in-law Staci Owens of Aurora, Co., Mother-In-Law Betty Owens of Aurora ,Co, Sister-in-Laws Glenna Owens and Gayla Newsom and her husband Clyde of Aurora, Co., five nieces, five nephews, two great nieces, a great nephew, two step-sons, three grandchildren and her many friends that she loved dearly.

Funeral services will be held at Doane, Beal & Ames Funeral Home, 729 Rt. 134, in S. Dennis on Friday August 9th, 2013 at 11:00AM. In lieu of flowers contributions may be made in Mary’s memory to Therapy Dogs International, 88 Bartley Road, Flanders, NJ 07836.