Mary Elizabeth (Gross) DeWan
August 23, 1928 – October 8, 2025
Mary Elizabeth DeWan, 97, passed away on October 8th in Redmond, Washington due to end-stage vascular dementia. Mary, an only child, was born on August 23, 1928, in Jersey City, New Jersey to Martin and Mary Ellen Gross. She was preceded in death by her husband Harold Sr. and her son Harold Jr.
Growing up above the New Jersey railroad yards across from New York City, Mary’s family kept a constant kettle of soup for the men who rode the rails during the Great Depression. A pathway to their door became marked by coded symbols that were called “Hoboglyphs” leading weary travelers to a hot meal. As a young girl, Mary learned the importance of altruism and hospitality toward strangers, a core belief that guided her for the rest of her life.
Mary attended St. Dominic Academy and Fordham University where her love of reading was born. She married her husband Harold on September 17, 1949. In New York City, Mary worked in Rockefeller Center and spent her lunch hours watching movie stars attend the famous St. Patrick’s Cathedral. In 1955 her family moved west to Torrance, California, where she worked for Little Company of Mary Hospital and later the Post Office. When she wasn’t working, she loved taking her children and all their neighborhood friends on frequent trips to the beach and Disneyland in her iconic station wagon, which rarely had an empty seat.
In 1975 the family moved to Mercer Island, Washington, where Mary lived for 47 years. Mary transferred from Torrance to the Bellevue Post Office where she retired. But retirement was just the beginning of her next best chapter: a lifelong thrifter, Mary volunteered for 25 years at the Mercer Island Youth and Family Services Thrift Store. There she coined her personal motto: “Never Pay Retail!” Among Mary’s greatest joys were enjoying a pint at Happy Hour and watching her favorite Tom Selleck television shows. It comes as no surprise that her grandchildren gave her the title: “World’s Coolest Grandma.”
Mary is survived by her son Marty (Barbara) DeWan of San Diego, California, son Chris (Tracy) DeWan of Whitefish, Montana, daughter Deirdre (Tim) Johnson of Kirkland, Washington and daughter Meg (Glen) King of Monroe, Washington. She had 8 grandchildren and 5 great grandsons with a great granddaughter due next month.
Though Mary was disappointed that our country never elected a woman as President during her lifetime, that didn’t stop her from protesting from her wheelchair well into her 90s advocating for women’s rights, civil rights, and peace.
In honor of her, please raise a glass of her favorite ale, a Mac & Jack’s African Amber, and make sure your friends and family vote! In lieu of flowers please donate to the Seattle Humane Society, where Mary rescued many dogs that had nowhere else to go.
A Celebration of Life titled “Mary Fest” is being planned for next summer.
