Obituary of Mary Elizabeth McWhorter

Mary Elizabeth Johnson was born in Twin Falls, Idaho on March 22, 1921 to Roy and Helen Johnson. She moved to Glendale, California (1927) as a young child and remembered helping her Mother sort and place flowers on Rose Bowl parade floats when she was just a tiny girl. Mary's family included: Louise, Bill, John, and Bob. Surrounded by big burly boys, she told stories of watching them eat huge plates of food, and Grandma McGill stealing the last piece of meat when she saw all the boys ready with forks in hand. Mary's father was a civil engineer who built roads around the west, ending in Arizona first in Phoenix (1936), and then to Tucson (1937), where Mary lived until last May when she moved to Logan to be near her son James. Mary always had a love for nature, flowers, and birds. Her love of hiking took her on many adventures and she made many trips to bird watch. She was very active in the Audubon Society in Tucson. She could talk for hours about her connections to Mexico, Yellowstone and Montana as well as her beloved Arizona (especially Tucson). As a young woman, Mary loved music and it was a strong tie that bound her to many friends. To pay for her college, she worked at McWhorter Music Company, owned and operated by Robert McWhorter and his father (Austin Sr.) and brother (Austin Jr.). There Mary met a dashing young man, Robert Leonard McWhorter and their love of classical music started a relationship that soon bloomed into marriage. Robert played the organ and most of the McWhorter children played instruments. Mary received her Bachelors Degree in Liberal Arts (English emphasis) at the University of Arizona in the spring of 1943 and married Robert on December 27 the same year. This ushered in a another chapter in her life: marriage and motherhood. Robert and Mary had six children: Duncan, Brian, Caroline, James, Rachael, & Peter. Their best friends, Elizabeth and Ellsworth Shaw, also had 6 children of similar ages, so the back yards of both homes were always filled with youngsters playing and causing havoc. Each year the family visited the Johnson family cabin atop Mt. Lemon, just outside Tucson and there are numerous movies and photos of the family gatherings throughout the years playing there. Often, summer vacations were spent in California on San Clemente Beach, before it became an expensive site for homes and tourists. Year after year the family movies show children running in and out of the ocean waves, each time looking slightly older. In February of 1957, Robert died of cancer of the larynx, a devastating blow to the whole family. Mary singlehandedly raised the 6 children with the support of family, friends and hired help and, when Peter entered elementary school, she decided to go back to school. Another life chapter began as Mary got a Masters Degree in Oriental Studies (U.of Arizona) and then a Masters Degree in Library Science at the University of Michigan. This meant a sojourn to Ann Arbor, Michigan. Caroline, James, Rachael and Peter accompanied her there and they saw snow and experienced winter weather for the first time. At the end of her degree studies, Mary was awarded a Ford Fellowship for advanced study of Japanese in Tokyo, Japan. James, Rachael and Peter accompanied her there. Peter and Rachael attended the American School in Japan and James completed correspondence coursework for his senior year, studied cello, played in the Tokyo Youth Symphony and traveled on short jaunts prepared for him by his Mother's professor, Dr. Bailey. After a year, Mary returned to the University of Arizona where she was librarian for the Oriental Studies Collection for 18 years. With six children you can imagine that Mary's progeny grew in numbers. Duncan married Candace Shinner and had three children: Brian, Michelle and Christopher. Brian married Bobby Pacheco and had Lisa, Stacy, Samantha, & Piper. He divorced and later married Debbie Hull, adopted Bailey, a little girl from China, and added a stepson named Eric to the family tree. Caroline married Kenneth McKenzie and had Kirsten. She divorced and married Michael Mahar. Together they had Eve and Ben. Rachael married Jim Shaw and had Duncan and Heather. She divorced and married again to Larry Tocco, a man who already had 3 boys. James married Jane Crawford and had Robert and Brook. They divorced and he married Sue Jordan. Mary has 19 grandchildren and 19 great grandchildren and more to come… Just before Mary retired she became involved with Vipassana Meditation, studying with Shinsen Young, a Buddhist teacher. She opened (founded?) the Tucson Community Meditation Center (TCMC) which has now grown to more than 300 members and draws many people to Tucson for retreats. Several years ago Mary attended a retreat and the group expressed their profound gratitude for her gifts to the area. Mary often quoted her Japanese teacher Dr. Bailey saying, "The mark of a good teacher is to be surpassed by his students". In May of 2008 Mary moved to Logan to her beautiful first floor apartment at Williamsburg Retirement. She loved looking out the glass doors to watch birds, see the flower gardens or gaze at the trees. She returned to Tucson on April 10, 2015 and moved into Mountain View Retirement. That day as she rode from the airport, she was ecstatic about being "home" - recognizing all the plants and birds, mountains and familiar buildings and landscapes. Sadly, a few days later she had a sudden downturn and subsequently passed away on April 19, 2015 at 5:15 P.M. She died peacefully, surrounded by many family members and friends. There will be a celebration of her life on: Saturday August 22, 2015 from 6-10 P.M. at the Viscount Suites in Tucson. For details RSVP at marymcwhorter.eventbrite.com