"Like a leaf falls from the tree..."

"So Wie ein Blatt vom Baume fallt, so geht ein Leben aus der Welt. Aufrichtige Anteilnahme."

Like a leaf falls from the tree, so goes a life from the world. Sincere condolences.

- German translation from Steven Ricchiazzi, nephew

"... curled our hair in rags"

Oh, why I hesitate to reflect on the loss of a loved one for so long I do not know, more than twelve moons have come and gone since Marys death and only now do I share my memories. Most of my time spent with Mary was as a young girl during holidays and summers on the Vineyard. She was always fun and so nice! Always ready to take part in her irreverent cousins ideas. One of my fondest memories was when my parents went abroad and my brother Dan and I got to stay at the Stoertz's in Washington DC. WOW, what a wonderful adventure into another families life, an exotic and fascinating household it was. Mary and Ann and I ate copious amounts of candy and curled our hair in rags. It was so nice to have sisters if only for a short time. A dear memory. I feel for those of you who were closer to her than I; life does not seem fair.

Regards to all who knew and loved Mary Wilder Stoertz Green.

- Deborah Carlin Jones Pearce, cousin 4/12/2008

"So much has changed..."

It's been a year. So much has changed. Wish you were here.

- Branka, friend 2/26/2008

Dionis & Mary Sunday

two voices
stopping
still
in the night
between Venus
and a hazy crescent moon
two ever present voices
holding your heart
wrapped
in a West Virginia landscape
knit from a photograph
a morning walk
in glowing daffodil
misplacing
what you can never lose
when each word heals
some warp and weave way
then some more time passes

- Valerie Sonnenthal, inspired by a Unitarian Service
in honor of Mary's grandmother and Mary, April 2007

"Why not?"

Some women see things as they are and say why. Mary dreamed things that never were and said why not.

- Excerpt from Mark Weinberg's Eulogy for Mary

"Mary's quest for knowledge was infectious"

How rarely are our lives touched by someone as passionate and dedicated as Mary. I was lucky enough to be Mary's student, both formally and informally, for over twelve years. Mary's passion for environmental protection and the quest for knowledge was infectious.

- Excerpt from Natalie Kruse's Eulogy for Mary

"A powerful winter storm was cause for excitement and best to be out in it"

Rarely are we blessed with someone who shows us how to be passionate in all aspects of our lives - Someone who takes caring and giving to new levels - Someone who can be counted on faithfully. Mary was this One...

- Excerpt from Bob Eichenberg's Eulogy for Mary

"When you read her poems, you will feel her hovering over your shoulder"

August 2007 - I have been honored with editing a collection of Mary's poems. I have seen many of these verses. We would workshop them together when I lived in Athens. Mary would come over usually on Sunday afternoons for a lunch or late snack. We worshipped together at Christ Lutheran Church, embracing the religion of an ornery monk-professor who perceived grace in a disgraceful time. Perhaps inspired by that, we would work on a poem together, a difficult line elusive as a lark or a concept on which her lyric spun like a planet.

We would have discussions about science, as I am a social scientist, making connections about natural resources and the coverage thereof in the media. But we would also wax philosophic about life and its meaning, about another level of existence beyond this one. We did not see design in nature; we saw it in each other and our children and spouses, in those we loved and in the "nature of love."

I can say that Mary is still among us, although there is no way to prove that. Some people, when they pass, are simply gone. She is lingering still, and when you read her poems, in which she took such great pride--more so, I think, than in her science--you, too, will feel her hovering over your shoulder, lip-synching the lines, ready to explain an image or a trope so that you can grasp her meaning, as I am grasping it now, yet again, and as you will soon when you page through her stunning collection.

- Michael Bugeja, poetry mentor and friend

"Why mess with a good thing?"

My Memories of you Mary are so clear , like it was yeaterday. It has been four years since I have seen you. I had planned on visiting you and your family this summer. I so remember your thick shiny beautiful hair, untouched by chemicals. Natural beauty,like you were. I remember you asking me all the time what else could we do with it that was easy and quick. I would tell you why mess with a good thing. We would laugh and I would tell you that I could take my time and cut your hair slowly so you wouldn't have to rush off to work so fast. I wanted you to stop and relax. I could see the wheels turning into a new thought in your mind every minute. You were such a facinating person to talk to. It has been such a pleasure to have known you and your family. I couldn't wait for you to show up at the shop because you were always in a good mood and into a new adventure. You were so refreshing to see and hear. I knew it would keep me going the long hours I would put in. I sure appreciated our great conversations. We grew from client to friend. I remember you teasing me that I could't get rich from just a haircut on you. My memories of you in my salon and in my life will stay warm with me forever. Thank you for the memories.

- Wendy Torres, hairdresser and friend

"Thank you for the impeccable beauty of your life"

Thank you Mary, for the impeccable beauty of your life, your poetry, your music, your intelligence, your science, your love of water, and of life. You are alive in your children, in your entire family and in me, lucky me who got to know you very deeply.

- Pilar Farnsworth, George's partner

"...your bicycle tethered to a telephone post with snow gently falling"

We met at our monthly Athens "wild & wonderful women's lunch" meetings. Mary, your 'out there' courage is an inspiration to me. I feel a sisterhood with you in our pioneering spirits. Though we pioneer into different worlds, we connect through spirit. Your coming for acupuncture treatment was a time when you 'treated' me. We gave to each other. I accompanied you on your transformational journey, as you do on mine. I so wish you were here so we could continue.

Over and over, an icon that is etched in my memory--your bicycle tethered to a telephone post with snow gently falling. I put that on your picture page with the sound of your laughter.

- Frances Gander, acupuncturist and friend

"Sweet was the sound..."

Sweet was the sound that sometimes amazed us when we would play a tune on the Tin Whistles in perfect harmony. Your life was like that harmony, with unexpected twists and turns that always brought that sweet reward. Although the ultimate reward was not expected so soon, I trust you will find it sweet just the same.

- Sue Farley, a friend

"...those times we laughed together and those time we shed tears"

March 2007 - OH my dearest friend Mary. In life we have so many friends...but we are only lucky if we have one friend that we can bare our soul, our weaknesses, and our insecurities to ...and that my friend was you! Thank you for passing my way for if I had never met you I would have missed a great friendship...the pleasant things we used to do...those times we laughed together and those time we even shed tears have made my life rich and full. Throughout the passing years I thank you for coming my way. I hope to keep in touch with you after lifes journeys here shall end. I will miss you forever.

July 2007 - I visit this site often b/c I miss Mary sooooo much! I am very pleased to see that each time I visit I see somethng different...meaning that we have NOT forgotten about one of the most caring, loving, and smart person I ever knew. I cannot believe that it is still true...Mary is gone! and I miss her advice, smile, friendship, etc., so much I am not sure how to frame my emotions except to check this site and remember all she stood for and let myself just cry! b/c I want to talk to her really bad about a project I need her advice on...but I can't so I will go forward and do the best and know whe would be proud of me. I loved her so much I am still devastated! But! I know Mary would want me to move on and I will but not w/out my thoughts of her almost daily. I accidently pulled up a document she and I were working on and it brougt back all the PAIN of her unfortunate death. I actually wish I could be w/her b/c she always had the answers. I lost my sister and I am still devastated! Thanks to whom ever is keeping site going. Love and miss Mary forever.

August 2007 - I was thinking of Mary today. I was in a meeting today with my Forest Supervisor, Mary Reddan. The Wayne National Forest has a summer student who is doing a paper on the partnership of Monday Creek that Mary was so involved with. Mrs. Reddan informed me that she would like for me to be a mentor to this student like Mary had been for me. It brought back so MANY memories of the times Mary gave me guidance, advice, love, facts, etc., that I became overwhelmed after I left the meeting b/c I could NEVER be the mentor that my Mary was. I will never be as smart as she was! After some considerable thought...I thought...Mary would never accept that answer from me, SO, I will do my very best to help this student, and that is what has brought me back to this website...I MISS MARY! I will always miss Mary. I feel sooooo blessed to have known and been so close w/her. She is still such a big part of my life and will always be. I simply miss her and this is my avenue of expressing my feelings and STILL deriving STRENGTH from Mary. I hope I can do a good job?? Thanks and God Bless the webmaster of this site for providing a place for people like me who needs to somehow stay in touch.

October 2007 - I once again find myself at this site thnking of the up-coming Annual GSA meeting this month with a special session honoring Mary. I unfortunately cannot attend, but still think of her often. My daughter married on October 6th and I know Mary would have been there and would have been so proud of Heather. She knew all of my children from a young age...as I did her wonderful children. Make no mistake...the plethora of Mary's work will be the highlight at the GSA session this month and I am so proud of that b/c she was so brilliant! I still miss her a lot and suspect I always will.

- Pam Stachler, 1st Grad Student and friend

"...discussing the universe and the stars with him now"

oh mary, mary why did you have to leave us. Mary you were so kind and generous to me when i had my tragedy almost 11 years ago. i know that my husband loved you and your scientific mind. i know that you are discussing the universe and the stars with him now. I did attend church even though for a short time as you wanted me to do. mary i love you and cry for you daily. i will try to cook for doug and the boys. mary go in peace of the lord and love from me. sammy

- semiramis "sammy" huwe, Ohio University

My friend Yuhuan sent me a poem that Mary liked. Yuhuan stayed with Mary and Doug briefly in Athens while she was travelling across the country, and said that she and Mary had a heart-felt conversation where they shared some poetry. Mary teared up a bit while reading this poem by David Whyte.

- Nassar Stoertz, nephew

The Winter of Listening

No one but me by the fire,
my hands burning
red in the palms while
the night wind carries
everything away outside.

All this petty worry
while the great cloak
of the sky grows dark
and intense
round every living thing.

What is precious
inside us does not
care to be known
by the mind
in ways that diminish
its presence.

What we strive for
in perfection
is not what turns us
into the lit angel
we desire,

what disturbs
and then nourishes
has everything
we need.

What we hate
in ourselves
is what we cannot know
in ourselves but
what is true to the pattern
does not need
to be explained.

Inside everyone
is a great shout of joy
waiting to be born.

Even with the summer
so far off
I feel it grown in me
now and ready
to arrive in the world.

All those years
listening to those
who had
nothing to say.

All those years
forgetting
how everything
has its own voice
to make
itself heard.

All those years
forgetting
how easily
you can belong
to everything
simply by listening.

And the slow
difficulty
of remembering
how everything
is born from
an opposite
and miraculous
otherness.
Silence and winter
has led me to that
otherness.

So let this winter
of listening
be enough
for the new life
I must call my own.

~ David Whyte ~

"...one of those special people"

I met Mary in the geology department at the University of Wisconsin while we were both pursuing graduate degrees. I was in awe of her. She was intelligent, respected, articulate, and focused on her goals. She also had a beautiful smile. I on the other hand was married with a small child and desperately trying to keep on track with my dissertation and teaching duties. I wish I had gotten to know her better but the grief I'm feeling today is genuine. I remember talking with her about how much she liked children so I'm happy she had her own. When I heard she was at Ohio I was proud to know someone who had accomplished so much. I knew she was one of those special people who would do amazing things with their life.

- Janet Heiny, University of Wisconsin

"That one ..."

I am not merely me _____
I am that one who walks beside me,
whom I do not see,
whom, at times, I manage to visit,
and at other times I forget.
That one who remains silent, when I talk ____
That one who forgives, sweet, when I hate ____
That one who walks in nature, when I am indoors;
That one who remains standing
When I am dead.

- Juan Ramon Jiminez, submitted by Bradley

Excerpts from William's Inspirations

I heard the news by email in the early morning. Mary, Oh, Mary... I could not think, I could not work. I just dropped everything and came on the first plane all the way from Russia. I just had to. I could do nothing else...

Flying across the ocean, looking down upon frozen Greenland, thinking of geologists, looking down upon frozen lakes of northern Canada, looking down upon the Appalachians and thinking of hundreds of millions of years, looking down upon meandering rivers of Ohio, thinking of the river you worked to restore... Time stood still, time passed like a flash, beginning and end become one...

A dream. Smiling, still talking to one another, Mary entered into an MRI, on the flat bed that enters into the machine, and we said to each other: "Don't worry. We can still communicate." ...The feeling that we are not really separated, and we can continue to communicate, as we have always been able to, by heart, by resonance of our hearts, in love....

Happy 50th birthday, Mary! We celebrated Your birthday with a big cake and candles, happy, for your sake, feeling that you are here sharing with us.

Happy International Women's Day! You set a good example for all women. I am so happy that you lived...

- William Stoertz, brother

"She always rode her bicycle to church even on inclement days..."

Dear Doug and your family,

I knew Mary through Christ Lutheran Church and shall miss her wonderful warm hugs. I had to stand on tip toes and she always had to bend down, but her hugs were always warm and I knew that they were straight from her heart.

In my last conversation with Mary, perhaps three weeks ago, Mary was so happy that she felt that finally she had regained all her memory and I rejoiced with her. Mary always seemed happy, always had a smile on her face, was always warm and inviting, even as the aftermath of her surgery lingered.

Mary was a great lady, one whom I admire and respect a great deal. She took stewardship seriously, I never saw her in an automobile--she always rode her bicycle to church even on inclement days when, had I lived nearer the Church and were I able to ride a bicycle these days, likely I would have driven anyway. She lived by her convictions, by her commitment to protecting and conserving God's gifts and in my mind that fact alone earned my respect.

I am deeply saddened at her sudden death, but know that she is singing with the angels and likely is making certain that she is using good stewardship with the gifts of Heaven.

Her leaving so suddenly is, I know, a terrible shock for you and your boys, but if she had to go, then for her it is a blessing that her leaving this life was instantaneous.
I regret that I shall not be able to be with you tomorrow at the memorial for Mary, just know that I shall be with you in spirit.

May God bless you and all her family and give you guidance and strength and comfort.

- Dick Brackin, Christ Lutheran Church

"...how far your work has been extending"

I feel very sad to hear this news. All of my dissertation work with Professor Anderson and some of my current research projects are all based on Mary's doctoral work. Although I only met her once, I feel that I have known her for a long time from her dissertation. One of my project is to develop a new GIS program which is based on her work. I was planning to give her this program after we finish our current beta test within one or two months. It is so sad that she didn't see how far her work has been extending. I think the best thing I can do for her is to finish this work as best as we can and let the people know it is originally from her idea. Although I have never met any of her family, I would like to send them my most sincerely regards.

Yu-Feng Lin (Forrest), Ph.D.
Associate Hydrogeologist, Illinois State Water Survey and
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

"We will always see a star..."

Dear Doug,

We have never met but we know you through our daughter Manavi. Mary and you were like a family to her away from us. We are grateful to you both. Please accept our condolences. We pray that her soul rests in peace. People like us who are not students of astro physics still believe that whenever a good soul leaves the earth, it shines like a Star in the skies. We are sure that we will always see a star that is Mary shining over all of us.

- Renuka and Mansingh, parents of Mary's student Manavi

Requiem for Mary….Five Tableaux of Loss
To Mary, For Doug, Kevin & Duncan
From Katrin Talbot

I.

Mary,
  I just heard,
    the part about you dying,
      the heart attack
        last week

No other details
  except
    your family is still standing.

I was sitting,
  instructed to,
    when the news
      pressed against my chest
        and took
          away you
            and my breath

Got it back,
  my breath.
    Got the book in which
      your photograph lay
        off the shelf,..
          opened to the
            well-pressed
              well-loved
                page sixty-eight

And there you were again
  back with me
    and your momma and grandma
      in such a noble pose

Pressed my cheek against you, silver gelatin you
  and on the opposite page,
    rested my head upon your words
      and listened
        to our
          memories

II.

By the way,
  the day I heard you died,
    it was too bright out
      snow screaming senseless brilliance

and I was so cold, Mary,
  so so cold
    cups of tea couldn't
      begin to thaw
        a frozen core
          of loss,

which, by the way,
  was so annoying,
    because all I was doing all day
      was walking, laughing
        with you
          along the beach
            in Maine

chasing our gleeful toddlers
  It couldn't have been THAT cold
    on the beach.
      It wasn't
        THAT blinding, I'm sure of it.

we did timewarp back to
  before the second kids,
    but I was still cold and it was just for a
      moment
        before the beach beckoned again
          and then we leapt ahead to the
            mountains,
              full of geology and
                extraordinary hikes

and into your kitchen where
  anything to do with yeast
    had a magic
      in your hands
       without recipe

Even in the kitchen
  I was cold
    leaning on the stove,
      watching you as I sipped
        Doug's fine coffee,

So back we went to the beach,
  before piano lessons,
    hockey
      swimteam

and into the life
  we shared when
    we could intersect

and I began to thaw a bit

But, Mary,
  I'm still so cold
    without
      you

III. Folding

Towards ordering
  the disorder,
    I slowly fold the clothes
      for the journey to your memorial

Very slowly
  folding memories unraveled
    slipping sorrow
      between creases
        rolling your laugh into
          a pair of socks
            making sleeves so
              gently, unconsciously
                hold you,
    stacking the few items with a reckless care
      breaking my record for tidiness
        just as you broke your record,
          kept the pace
            for (in your report)
              an untidy run
                which qualified you
                  for the team,
                    Olympic, no less

So, champ,
  I’m ready now,
    to say goodbye

Oh . . . forgot my old hankie
  to catch the
    salting of a
      farewell

Damn.

IV. Unable to Imagine the Gloria

Too big a heart
  For a single life to sustain

Didn’t need
  that surgery,
    did you, girl,
      to be

open-hearted

V. Coming Home

Stinging eyes
  soak up
    twinkling rows of lives
      below vast roaring indigo
        Even the plane has life . . .
          pulse on the wing tips
            pulse on the runway

you,
  without

We have all said goodbye
  this morning
    in the sanctuary
      of tears and sighs
        crops of crumpled Kleenex
          neatly planted
            in each row
              of pew

Hymns trying to close the circle
  ushering in
    feelings of
      Hallelujah

And now we move on . . .
  along paths we suddenly
    find ourselves
      placed upon again,

. . . without

- Katrin Talbot, old friend