Mary Beth loved animals, reading, the outdoors, travel, and good food (cooked by others). She was an avid birder, camper, hiker, kayaker, and cross-country skier, and ran the San Francisco Bay to Breakers race in 1981. She played the flute in two bands and drummed in a group. She camped and hiked all over the western U.S., sailed in the Greek islands, took a cooking course in Tuscany, and explored Athens, Prague, Barcelona, and Croatia.

 

Over the years, she made friends in every workplace and activity in which she participated. Mary Beth was thoughtful, generous, optimistic, independent, determined, naturally curious, and quick to laugh. She cherished her family and her pets -- a lifetime menagerie that included a childhood lamb, a pair of goats, and a miniature donkey in addition to a series of very spoiled cats. She was an indefatigable fighter who successfully overcame two bouts of lymphoma and never gave up in the face of increasing health challenges. In the last year of her life, she traveled to visit family in Missouri and her daughter in Italy.

 

She leaves a void behind that will never be filled, but everyone who was fortunate enough to spend time with her is the better for it.