Mary Kathryn Marquardt

Mary was a loyal and compassionate daughter, mother, sister, aunt, and friend. Her true calling was to be caregiver for the weak, the small, the sick, and the furry. She spent most of her adult life focused on caring for her daughter, then her mother, then other people’s mothers. She made it official at 72, graduating from college with a perfect grade in every class, proudly becoming a certified nursing assistant.

Mary’s greatest happiness was time spent with her family. She tirelessly loved her parents, her three brothers, her sisters-in-law, and her six nieces and nephews. And after so many years of being “Aunt Mary,” she finally became a mother at age 41 to Amanda. For the next 35 years, Mary’s greatest love and proudest accomplishment was Amanda, only to be overshadowed by her all-too-brief time as Liam’s grandma. Mary’s affection was also heavily lavished on Tipsy, her orange cat who passed at the age of 23 just a few short months before Mary.

Mary doted on her family in many ways, but most memorably with her exceptional cooking. For decades, her Sunday dinners and holiday meals were cherished. Her lemon meringue pie will be missed the most of all.

Mary had many other talents. She was a florist, a carpenter, a photographer, a tennis player, a seamstress, a pianist, and a gardener. Well into her 70s she was making furniture in the woodshop at the Alpharetta Senior Center, maintaining nearly an acre of gardens, and attacking sewing projects large and small. She was a self-taught bookkeeper and an infallible keeper of paper. Her canceled checks and grocery receipts have been lovingly maintained in neat boxes for at least 40 years, just in case.

Mary is survived by her daughter Amanda (Bill Hyland), a grandson Liam and a granddaughter Mary Elise due in September, brothers Julius, Arnold (Ginger), and Arthur, nieces and nephews, and great-nieces and great-nephews.

Visitation will be held on Friday, June 9, from 5:00 – 7:00 PM at Sandy Springs Chapel, 136 Mount Vernon Highway, Sandy Springs. A celebration of Mary’s life will be held there on Saturday, June 9 at 11:00 AM. Memorial donations in memory of Mary may be made to the American Cancer Society.

Burial will follow the chapel service: Crest Lawn Memorial Park- 2000 Marietta Blvd. NW Atlanta, GA 30318