Mary Christine Duarte

Mary grew up in Brighton, Massachusetts, the oldest of five children. After high school, she earned a degree as a Registered Nurse, and worked at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Boston. She married George M. Duarte, and they raised nine children in Braintree and Norwell, MA, then moved their family to San Francisco and Newport Beach, California. She and George retired in Ocean Hills Country Club in Oceanside, CA, but Mary never lost her distinctive Boston accent!

Mary loved spending time with her family. She enjoyed cooking and baking for her large brood, and never minded an extra face at the table. She and George bought an RV to make cross-country visits with their children, seeing much of the continental US and many national parks. Boat trips to Martha’s Vineyard and ski trips to New Hampshire were some of the family’s treasured memories.

Mary was always busy. She loved a good book, and never understood reading online. She would let everyone know that she read the Wall Street Journal cover-to-cover every day, often cutting out articles that a child or friend might enjoy. Mary enjoyed playing games: she and George played backgammon nightly, she laughed through many games of dominoes with kids and grandkids, and she looked forward to getting together with friends for Mahjong. As an enduring legacy, Mary excelled at the art of needlepoint, stitching countless pillows and wall-hangings, as well as 25 Christmas stockings for her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Aside from caring for her family, she was generous with her time. Mary volunteered as an usher at the San Francisco Opera House, as a college and career guidance counselor at both Lowell High in San Francisco and Corona del Mar high school in Newport Beach, as a Eucharistic Minister at Our Lady Queen of Angels Church in Newport Beach, and at St. Thomas More in Oceanside, where she also helped in the Bereavement Ministry after George passed away.

Mary was predeceased by her husband of 53 years, George M. Duarte, her son George Jr., her grandson, Michael George, her parents Michael and Mary, and her siblings Tom, Peggy and Kevin. She is survived by her children Michael (Aileen), Kathleen (Jerry), James, Christine (Joseph), Kerry (Matt), Keith (Michelle), Jonathan (Jennifer) and Noel, as well as twenty grandchildren, six great-grandchildren, and one sibling, Eileen Chamberlin (Bruce).

The family would like to acknowledge the kindness and respect Mary received at GlenBrook Health Center in Carlsbad, CA. She spent her final days with her children among the flowers and waterfalls in the garden, and playing Bingo with her new-found friends. Thank you.

Funeral services will be held on Thursday, June 29, 2023 at 11:00 am, at

St. Thomas More Catholic Church, 1450 South Melrose Dr. Oceanside, CA 92056.

Mary will be laid to rest with her husband George at Otis National Cemetery in Massachusetts at a later date.

Memorial donations may be made to St. Thomas More Catholic Church Building Fund.