Today I learned there was a true farmgirl in my city midst, for years, and I had no idea. I also had no idea she was ill or suffering from Alzheimer’s. Apparently that’s the way she wanted it.
Her passing came as a surprise to many.
So here’s what I found out today at her memorial service:
Farmgirl Hero Mary A. Myers was born in 1936 on a dairy farm in Waukesha, Wisc. She was educated in a one-room schoolhouse and graduated first in her class (being the only one in her class).
She was indeed first in her class. Not very many women would have the mettle to go from that small farming town to earn a journalism degree from Northwestern, then after the sudden death of her husband, raise two children and accomplish a successful career as a financial journalist at the Chicago Daily News, Chicago Sun-Times and Washington Post. She also managed the images of Chicago-area companies as an executive at Hill and Knowlton and Burson-Marsteller.
But I know her heart was in journalism. When she retired several years ago, she asked that I refer to her as a retired journalist, not a retired public relations specialist.
Mary was a mentor and a woman devoted to her family and to a profession that, when she joined it, still shunned women. The pastor told a story that one of her j-school profs berated her for taking the place of a man.
I also learned that she continued to balance a life in the city with her desire to be in the country…a true Farmgirl Hero.
Her full news obituary, ironically, is in the Chicago Tribune today: Sun-Times editor helped change role for women, Business journalist gained respect as ‘path-breaker.’
Updated on Saturday with a link to Mary’s obituary.
Virtual Farmgirl 