Our Mary
It was with great sadness that we heard in July that one of our long serving branch committee members, Mary Garbarino, had died.
Mary became involved with the MND Association when she lost her sister to the disease nearly 25 years ago and she had been loyally volunteering with us ever since. What ever the event, you could count on Mary to help. Coffee mornings, street collections, awareness stalls and at the annual MND memorial service.
Every year she volunteered at the Great North Run (GNR) reception tent on the drinks and food. Trudi Sadler, Events manager for MND Association, said that the GNR was certainly not going to be the same without Mary “I have truly valued her kind support throughout the years I have managed this event and will miss her ‘cheeky’ side”
Anita Solan, Community & Events Fundraiser also remembered Mary’s humour “She was a formidable lady, a wonderful volunteer and very funny too!”.
Her volunteering work was not just with the MND Association; she also volunteered with the league of friends at North Tyneside Hospital, and helped out in charity shops and the community furniture store through her church.
Mary was very camera shy and was very successful at dodging the lens whenever it was pointed in her direction. Thankfully we have this one rare snapshot in the scrapbook of her behind a stall at the Tyne & Wear branch coffee morning at Brunton Park back in 1997.
Much loved and greatly missed by us all.
My mum Eleanor Carr looked for Mary for years. She liked mary very much at school but lost touch. Mum died in 1994 age 60. I found her school photograph today and think Mary is on it so with the advantage of today’s technology I found this MNDA notice.
She sounds just as my mum described her. A lovely person. She must always have had a kind nature.