Mary Frances Carberry
9/16/1936 - 1/26/2017
On the morning of January 26, 2017 Mary Frances Carberry, age 80, passed from this earth into the eternal care of the universe. She is lovingly survived by Stephen J. McBrien, her devoted husband and spiritual soul mate of more than 30 years. She is also survived by her sister Clare Carberry.
One of four daughters of Thomas and Anne Carberry she was a native of County Cork, Ireland, Mary came to the United States in her twenties and was a longtime resident of her beloved neighborhood in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, NY. In 2006, She and Stephen relocated to Abingdon, VA as early members of the Elderspirit Community, eventually building their own home and helping to establish a local Quaker Meeting.
A lifelong lover of learning, Mary held a Master's degree in History from Hunter College in New York City, graduating Phi Beta Kappa. She held several career positions including working for a large insurance company and for Pan American Airlines where she and Steve met. Her most favored occupation was as a New York City High School History teacher at Clara Barton High School, also in Brooklyn.
Mary was a world traveler and visited many countries on all continents with the exception of Antarctica. Also a lover of sports and the outdoors she enjoyed skiing, camping, tennis, hiking and golf.
She cared deeply about the earth, the environment and for universal peace in the world. A dedicated activist she supported many efforts and causes including protests against nuclear arms, against war as a member of the “Women in Black” and supporting building dog runs for local dogs in the Abingdon area.
She and Stephen lived a life together of fun, spirituality, curiosity and travel. Their adventures included surviving lightning strikes while canoeing, speeding away from tornadoes on a western highway and even dodging rogue campers.
A Quaker memorial service will be held in February at the Spirit House at Elderspirit Community in Abingdon with the date and time yet to be announced. Her ashes will be interred at the Quaker cemetery in Brooklyn, NY. A service will be held in Brooklyn in early Spring 2017, date, time and location are also to be announced. For details or to be contacted, please email sean.v.mcbrien@gmail.com
Stephen can be contacted at paaconex@gmail.com
Mary lived a long and full life and will be deeply missed. Namaste
In lieu of flowers donations can be made to one of Mary’s favorite charities:
Doctors Without Borders: https://donate.doctorswithoutborders.org/onetime.cfm?type=tribute
Oxfam: https://www.oxfamamerica.org/donate/