Mary Londergan Lovaas died early Sunday, Nov. 15 at age 96. She was the loving mother of six children, including John Lovaas of Reston, his four younger sisters and one brother in addition to having seven grandchildren and two great grandchildren. She was an inspiration and source of great affection to them all.
Ms. Lovaas was born on Flag Day (June 14) 1919 in Pittsfield, Mass. to Patrick and Alyce Londergan, both 100 percent Irish, whose parents came to the U.S. from Cork County, Ireland. She graduated high school, earned a business/secretarial training certificate, and taught in Pittsfield before accepting a temporary position at the Navy Department in Washington, D.C. in 1940. He soon met Lloyd Lovaas, a dashing young man recently arrived in D.C. from his native Minnesota. They were married on Washington’s Birthday (Feb. 22) in 1941.
When Lloyd joined the Army and headed for the European theater, she returned to Pittsfield to stay with her folks with baby John until the war ended. When Lloyd came home in 1945, they moved to Arlington, Va. After two more children arrived, they moved in 1951 to College Park, Md. Following John, there were four girls and, finally, a second boy.
Ms. Lovaas was a caring mom. She read to all her children, got involved in their school activities and encouraged them to succeed academically and to participate in extracurricular activities. She did not learn to drive until very late in life. So, she did a lot of walking. For example, she would hike with her children to the bookmobiles, public library branches serving some neighborhoods in those days.
Daughter Cathy was born with Down’s Syndrome and attended special schools. Ms. Lovaas volunteered in Cathy’s school. Also, she helped organize and led a group of Cathy’s handicapped friends who bowled together just about every weekend. They called themselves the Woodchoppers. It was amazing to see the absolute delight of those young people of varying skill levels bowling, scoring and enjoying pizza together afterwards.
Somehow she also found time to work part-time at the Government Printing Office in Washington and to do a lot of other community volunteer work such as Meals on Wheels and helping out at “My Friends Closet”, a second-hand store. She rarely took time for herself; she was too busy giving to others and loved doing it.
There will be a visitation for friends and family at Borgwardt’s Funeral Home in Beltsville, Md. on Thursday, Nov. 19 from 7 to 9 p.m. Mass will be held at her church of over 50 years, Holy Redeemer Catholic Church on Berwyn Road in College Park, Md. at 11 a.m. on Friday, followed by burial at George Washington Cemetery in Adelphi, Md. and an informal reception afterwards.