Mary Marlene Yost

Mary Marlene Yost, 71, of Gahanna, transitioned peacefully from this life on January 7, 2024, after her fifth courageous battle with cancer. She was born September 16, 1952, to the late Gene and Margaret (Cooperrider) Mock.

Mary was a selfless warrior who fearlessly confronted the cancer that invaded her body over the years. She did so with faith, strength and determination, always worried about how her struggles might affect her family and close friends.

Mary was a terrific cook who enjoyed using vegetables and herbs harvested from her garden. She loved the beach, music and attending concerts, and she relished traveling, especially on cruises with her close-knit family. She also was fond of golf and playing board games and was unbeatable at dominoes.

Mary graduated from Gahanna Lincoln High School, which entered her in its Hall of Fame in 2018, and The Ohio State University where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism.

She began her long and storied journalism career in 1973 as an intern at The Columbus Dispatch. She became a full-time reporter the following year, breaking major stories while covering an extensive array of news across Columbus and its suburbs.

Mary was the first woman to work as part of The Dispatch’s public affairs team covering the Ohio Statehouse and Supreme Court, focusing on health care, education and human services.

She was widely respected by co-workers and the people and politicians she wrote about as a positive, graceful, conscientious, calm, caring and fair reporter. And she always took extra care to welcome, shepherd and coach young women just entering the journalism field.

She left the newspaper in 1992 for the Ohio Hospital Association to become the senior director of public affairs. The organization later promoted her to become its first female vice president, where she handled communications for statewide-member hospitals and media and public relations.

Columbus CEO magazine hired Mary in January 2014 to be its editor. In 2018 she returned to The Dispatch, becoming its first female opinion page editor. She retired in 2020 but continued extensive work as a freelance writer for a variety of organizations.

She was honored over the years with a host of local and national journalism and public affairs awards. Mary also served the community. She was a former board chair for Franklin County Children Services, served on the Thurber House board, worked on the Leadership Committee for the Columbus Metropolitan Club and held leadership positions on Columbus Rotary and St. John’s Evangelical Protestant Church. She was treasurer and past president of the Lambda Pi chapter of Delta Theta Tau national philanthropic sorority. She was a member of First Community church.

Mary was a candid advocate for cancer research and healing, which she wrote about in The Dispatch. She also shared her personal journey with the disease with hundreds of followers in an inspirational blog that she started in 2008 named “Mary’s Blog 4 Healing” It can be found at 4myhealing.blogspot.com.

She posted her last blog entry titled “Comfort and blessings” on January 3. Her ever-present generous spirit and grace were exemplified when she promised to “. . . use all the blessings I can muster to reflect them back to others . . . Isn’t that what we are all here for? To make life better for each other?”

Mary was preceded in passing by her high-school sweetheart and husband of 40 years Tom Yost, sister-in-law Debi Mock and brother-in-law Mike Mancuso. She is survived by her loving husband T.C. Brown; children Mandy (Andy) Hickey and Ben Yost; her adored grandchildren Dodge, Logan and Vivian Hickey; siblings Ann Mancuso, Rick Mock, Joyce (Jim) Brown and Margene (Brad) Power; brother-in-law Rick (Pam) Yost; step daughter Mackenzie (Ben) Workman and step-grandchildren Everett and Josephine; step daughter Kelly (Chris) Grant; along with many nieces, nephews, great nieces, great nephews and cousins.

A Celebration of Life A Celebration of Life will be held at 1 p.m., April 6, at First Community Church North, 3777 Dublin Rd, Columbus, OH 43221. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in her name to Steps for Sarcoma. Please visit www.Schoedinger.com to share memories and condolences.