[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 68 (Thursday, April 26, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E547]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  HONORING THE LIFE OF MARY I. GREGORY

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MARCY KAPTUR

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 26, 2018

  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to the life of a 
remarkable woman. Mary Gregory passed from this life on April 2, 2018. 
Her friends and family will gather this week to remember and honor her.
  Mary Gregory was born to Louise and Richard Booker in Marion Indiana 
in 1930. Though they lived in town, the family owned a farm and Mary 
participated in its daily operation. She regularly attended the 
Methodist Church. Surely, Mary's faith and discipline were instilled at 
an early age. Some of her family left for work in Toledo and eventually 
the rest of the family, including Mary, joined them. Her mother 
established a beauty salon, one of the first African American owned 
salons in Toledo.
  After graduating from Libbey High School, Mary was at first unable to 
pursue a nursing degree as she had chosen, because no nursing schools 
would admit an African American. In 1947 she was admitted into the St. 
Vincent School of Nursing and was the first African American to do so. 
She graduated in 1951, married Raymond Gregory, and together they 
raised a family of four children. Mary continued her education, 
completing her Masters of Education, Community Health and 
Administration Degree from the University of Toledo. She went on to a 
47 year career at St. Vincent Hospital.
  Mary Gregory's tenure at St. Vincent's was writ large. Beginning in 
the Emergency Room, she later was an operating room staff nurse. Then 
Mary really established herself. She instructed and trained students as 
surgical technicians for twenty years. During this time she developed a 
``patient centered'' curriculum and initiated a two year Surgical Tech 
training program. The program was so successful it was transferred to 
Lawrence Tech so that it could grow and was replicated in other places. 
Mary also supervised the St. Vincent Sickle Cell Free Testing and 
Education Program provided to Toledo's African American community. She 
even wrote the grants to fund this service.
  It was through her position as Manager of Health Promotions that Mary 
Gregory indelibly stamped her imprimatur on St. Vincent and the Toledo 
community. She developed free community health screenings and 
education, going out into the neighborhoods, migrant camps, and other 
underserved areas. She met the people where they were, at community 
events, shopping centers and health fairs. She talked to all people, 
especially those whose health and well-being were disproportionately 
addressed. Mary Gregory became the face of health promotion for many 
and fought to eliminate disparities in health care availability and 
accessibility.
  At the same time her career progressed at St. Vincent Hospital, Mary 
Gregory served our community in many ways, committed to community 
health. She was a member of the Toledo-Lucas County Board of Health, 
the Toledo HIV-AIDS Task Force, and the Ohio Commission on Minority 
Health. Mary was a co-founder of the Toledo Council of Black Nurses, 
serving as its first president. Additionally, Mary started a caregiver 
service at Warren AME Church, implemented health screenings at Toledo 
Public Schools, worked through the organizations of which she was a 
member to provide cancer, diabetes, and heart disease screenings, lupus 
support services, and smoking cessation help as part of April's 
Minority Health Month, and she was an Ambassador for the American Heart 
Association.
  Mary Gregory used her time and talents for the benefit of others. 
Through her efforts our community was compassionate, and our most 
vulnerable neighbors were ministered to in many ways. She lived 
Christ's message of Love. Surely at her homegoing, she was greeted as 
in Matthew 25:23, ``Well done, thou good and faithful servant.''
  To Mary Gregory's family and friends, we offer our condolences. We 
hope they find comfort in shared memories and the gift of her life.

                          ____________________