Mary Lydia Jarvi (age 93) died on October 24, 2010 in Bellingham, WA. Mary was born on October 5, 1917 in Great Falls, Montana to George and Dorothy (Park) Ryan. She came to Corvallis with her husband, Albert O. Jarvi, when he joined the Engineering faculty at OSU. Mary was a member of Corvallis Meeting from sometime in the 1960s through 2010.
She is remembered as smiling and gentle, having a quirky sense of humor, often dry and usually clever.
An accomplished artist, one year Mary helped create the Meeting's State of Society report using drawing, rather than words. It pictured many different kinds of plants appearing very separate above the earth but with intertwining roots in the ground of Spirit.
Mary held the Meeting in a trusting and patient way. When her husband died suddenly and meeting members did not come immediately, she trusted Friends were leaving her space out of caring, not neglect, and was glad to see people a few days later.
Mary attended Meeting regularly until she developed a sleep disorder which made staying awake difficult. She still felt connected with Friends but needed to attend a church that had a more active service that would keep her awake. After many years as a local non-attending member, part of the time living in Conifer House, Mary faded from the Meeting's awareness. Now we know that she moved to Bellingham to be near her son George Jarvi. In 2012 a search for members at a distance led to the discovery of her death notice.