Mary Merritt Rodrigue

Mary Merritt Rodrigue, 86, of Sandy Springs, died Wednesday morning, March 20th, of what looked very much like a broken heart. She was married to George P. Rodrigue Jr. for 63 years. He died last September. Soon after, she suffered a heart attack that doctors suspect was brought about by intense sorrow. She said, “I can’t complain. Until now, we’ve had such a good life.”

She was born in Argentina in 1932, to Maxwell Melville Merritt and Agnes Pettigrew Merritt. Her father was a former Doughboy, working for Standard Oil in South America. Some of her fondest memories were of summers spent on her grandmother’s estancia in Argentina with her siblings and cousins.

She came to the United States to study at Louisiana State University, where she majored in English and became a member of Kappa Delta sorority. At LSU, she also met her future husband, who friends and family always called “Pete.” Their match looked like a study in contrasts. Mary attended British schools and grew up entertaining diplomats with her family in Argentina. Pete was a Cajun from Bayou Lafourche in rural southern Louisiana who drove a rusted-out Dodge with plywood covering holes in the floorboards. As it turned out, the two formed an unbreakable bond.

Like many women of her generation, Mary gave all of herself to her family. She taught herself to sew. An early effort at a girl’s bathing suit fell apart on contact with sea water, but eventually she became a skillful seamstress. All six of her children proudly wore her unique clothing to school. One daughter called her style, “Rogue Amish.” She is particularly remembered by her children and grandchildren for her soft-sculpture dolls and elaborate Halloween costumes. She taught herself to cook. Early meals suffered, because her mother-in-law had intentionally omitted crucial ingredients from Pete’s family recipes. With help from Julia Child and the Joy of Cooking, she became an expert chef. She routinely cooked dinner for eight. She also learned pediatric medicine and child psychology. Her usual diagnosis was, “You look overly wrought.” Followed by a prescription: “Why don’t you go outside and run around?" Mostly, it worked.

As newlyweds, Mary and Pete loved their time in Cambridge, Mass., where he was studying applied physics. When he asked where she wanted to live after he finished his doctorate, she said, “anywhere but Florida.” Soon after, they moved to the Tampa Bay area. They moved to Atlanta in 1968, after Pete became a professor at Georgia Tech. For the rest of their lives, they took their entire family back to Florida for annual summer vacations.

Mary loved Atlanta’s climate, landscape, and cultural opportunities. She tended a beautiful garden. She and Pete enjoyed classical music, regularly attending the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Atlanta Opera. She also took every opportunity to use her Spanish, whether in Atlanta or in Spain.

She was a volunteer for many years at Ridgeview High School. She was a devoted parishioner of Christ the King Cathedral, where she served as a member of the Funeral Reception Ministry. Together Mary and Pete accompanied the cathedral choir on a tour of Europe. Other regular travel destinations included New York, London, Seattle, and Santa Fe for opera performances.

Mary kept an extensive library of books and read three newspapers every day. She would readily discuss history or current affairs, with a well-informed mind and a dry wit. She passed her love of reading on to her grandchildren.

She is survived by six children: George Rodrigue (Wendy Meyer) of Cleveland, OH., Edward Maxwell Rodrigue (Julie Culp) of Atlanta, Catherine Rodrigue of Hightstown, N.J., Frances Rodrigue Mathis (Lee) of Atlanta, Jane Rodrigue (Mark Ford) of Pearisburg, VA, and Dorothy Rodrigue McDaniel (Matthew) of Columbus, GA; by seven grandchildren; and by her brother, Peter Merritt, of Pass Christian, MS. She was preceded in death by her brother Henry Merritt, of New Orleans, LA.

Visitation will be held Wednesday, March 27, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at H.M. Patterson & Son-Oglethorpe Hill Chapel. A funeral Mass will be held on Thursday, March 28, at 10 a.m. at The Cathedral of Christ The King, 2699 Peachtree Rd, Atlanta.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to The Atlanta Opera and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.