Mary C. Hart

July 10, 1915 to January 8, 2016

Mother was born in Akron, Michigan to Katherine and James Charney, immigrants from Russia.  The family resided in Flint, Michigan.  She had six brothers and sisters; Michael, Walter, Mitchell, Alexander, Margaret, and Pauline, all now deceased.  They were thought to be poor, but mother said she never felt poor, for through the love and hard work of her mother Katherine, as a seamstress, the children were all raised successfully to adulthood.  While still quite young and in school the principal of the school had examined the poor circumstances of the family and arranged for tickets for mother and one or two other siblings to go see Harry Houdini, the famed magician of that time. That had to be rather special for a young child in those days.

Mother graduated from high school, which in those days was considered a major accomplishment, and she has remarked how some of the neighborhood parents brought her presents when she graduated.  They thought she might go on to become a teacher but that never happened.

After graduation she worked for a period of time at General Motors Institute of Technology.  Shortly after leaving to look for a better paying job she had an appointment with Doctor Orr, a highly respected eye doctor in the area.  At the end of the appointment and as she was leaving, the doctor asked her something to which my mother answered something like “nothing much, I’m looking for work”.  The doctor responded with a hand on her shoulder and said “you go see Mr. Seltzer at AC Spark Plug”.  She went to AC Spark Plug, whereupon she was asked by the receptionist if she had an appointment, to which she answered “no, but Dr. Orr sent me”.  She got the job.  It is remarkable how things sometimes work out.

Sometime during that period mother met and married dad, Richard F. Hart, in Michigan and they moved to Richland, WA where dad worked for the US Government as part of the Manhattan Project.  They had three children, Richard F. Hart, Jr., Robert J. Hart, and our sister, Katherine Marie Hart.  Mother has told me a story of an event that stayed in her memory all these years.  Sometime before I, Richard, was born, her mother had died.  Shortly after my birth and while she was resting in a hospital bed and fully awake, she said her mother appeared to her, as if to approve.  Perhaps this was a completion of the circle of life.

We spent the first five years living in a government house on Thayer Drive, Richland, WA.  In about 1950 dad was offered a chance to purchase one of the letter houses built by the federal government, a K House, on Torbett Street and we moved there where mother and dad resided for the remainder of their lives.

During those early years mother and dad raised us with love and good food.  Mother became very good at cooking and baking, enough so that one of the neighborhood women had remarked how our house always smelled so good.  I still remember the cookies she made, especially the oatmeal and raisin cookies.  She made some wonderful pies, especially the apple pies using apples from a tree my dad planted in the back yard and which is still there, though barely hanging on.  Perhaps that tree wanted to see my mother through the end of her time.

Mother didn’t make just one pie at a time.  She made as many as 8 or more at a time so they could be put in the freezer until she wanted to serve one at dinner.  She would make all the crusts one day and then finish the rest of the work over the next day or two.  She did the same thing with the main meal items such as Swiss Steak and gravy.  The remarkable thing is that while she was going to such great effort to feed the family she had also gone back to work outside the home in the 1950s to provide some additional income, eventually becoming a secretary for several Hanford contractors, including General Electric.

Mother and dad, through their hard work, managed to save enough money to put my brother, sister, and me through college.  They wanted to ensure that, even though they had not been able to get beyond high school, their children would make it through college.  My sister had not planned on going to college but our parents persuaded her to at least attend Columbia Basin Junior College (CBC).  After Kathie finished CBC she decided to complete her 4 year degree at Central Washington State University.  Our parents very much recognized the value of a good education.

Mother and dad eventually retired and dad kept active with gardening and working on his own hobby farm on the outskirts of Richland.  Mother kept active at home, continuing her cooking and baking until her 80s.  Even into her 80s, she would go on long walks through the neighborhood, but eventually had to forego those walks because of tripping hazards.

Kathie died of cancer in 2005 and dad died of a heart attack in 2007.  Those losses were hard on us and mother remarked that no parent wants to outlive their children.

Eventually her eyesight declined considerably and arthritis took its toll but her original hair color remained while mine began turning gray 10 years ago.  Even to the end, she had the appearance of a person thirty years younger.  Robert and I will miss her love and presence always, but know that she is in the hands of God and reunited with dad and Kathie.

Services are being arranged by Einan’s at Sunset, 915 Bypass Highway, Richland, WA and a funeral service will be held at Events at Sunset in Richland at 2:00PM on Sunday, January 24, 2016.