Wayland: Mary G. Troy, 81, of Lincoln, died Dec 5, 2012, after a heroic battle with cancer. She was born Aug 4, 1931 in Danbury Ct, the daughter of the late Genevieve Margaret (Breton) and John Francis Troy of Danbury.
She leaves her brother Michael and his wife Beth of North Smithfield, RI, her brother Jack of Bethel, Ct, her nephew Brendon of New York and niece Amy Troy of Philadelphia. She also leaves hundreds of friends from all walks of life who supported and prayed for her in her time of need.
She earned her B.S. in Elementary Education from Western Connecticut State University in Danbury Ct, went on to receive her M.A. in Education Counseling from St Michaels College in Winooski, Vt and then furthered her education and received her M.S.W. in 1992 from Salem State College in Salem, MA.
Mary’s whole life was dedicated to helping others whether it was in elementary education, social work, church or politics. She taught elementary education in the public schools of West Haven and Orange, Ct and then in Brookline, Newton and Acton, MA. Just out of college, she was a Girl Scout Professional in Germany and served as the Director of aGirl Scout camp on Martha’s Vineyard where she trained leaders and taught sailing.
She served as a social worker, school adjustment counselor, child therapist and clinical social worker. In these capacities she planned and implemented programs to educate and empower residents around advocacy issues, planned and provided individual and group therapy and counseling for latency-aged children and their families, provided individual therapy for children and parents whether families with alcohol and/or drug related problems and provided services to families of children with lead poisoning through home visits.
After retiring, she continued in “education” and worked with children (K-4th grade) at the Mass Audubon Society at Drumlin Farms in Lincoln teaching them to identify trees, make butter, visit farm animals and her favorite find your way through orienteering. She was quite involved with nature and took many local bird watching walks as well as distant bird watching expeditions. Wherever she travelled, you could see her joy of nature through the photos she took.
She was involved with two church groups: People of the Promise for 35 years and The Spirit of Life Community in Weston, MA where she advocated most recently for the church to become more egalitarian. As a young woman she served with the Sisters of the Cenacle.
She was a strong advocate in the political field and served as a delegate to the Mass Democratic Committee for 20 years.
When she wasn’t birding, involved in nature or her churches or being a political activist, she was interested in reading, sailing, attending life long learning classes, attending Tai chi classes in Lincoln, MA, playing scrabble, doing Sudoku, going to art and theater events, and snowshoeing or cross country skiing in wintertime. She definitely believed in living life to its fullest.
Mary was a kind, caring and generous friend to all who knew her and set a wonderful example to all for her independence and compassion. “She opened her heart and her ears to all who had something to say and made many laugh. She leaves much and took so little during her lifetime. She was grateful for the blessing of life and steadfast in her belief that“everything happens for a reason and prepared to deal with whatever came her way. “
There will be a Eucharistic Celebration of her Life on Saturday, Dec 15, 2012 at 11 am at The Spirit of life Community at the Congregational Church of Weston at 130 Newton St in Weston, MA with collation afterwards.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be sent to Drumlin Farm (www.massaudubon.org), http://romancatholicwomenpriests.org, Wayside Hospice, Wayland, MA or the Charity of your Choice .