- Date Of Birth: May 25, 1952
- Date Of Death: August 6, 2023
- State: Pennsylvania
Mary Clare Chevalier passed away on August 6, 2023. She was extraordinary in most ways … a wonderful wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, and friend. She worked as a registered nurse, serving people with substance abuse issues and mental health disorders at the Keystone Center in Chester, Pennsylvania. This is tough work, and success is hard-fought; but Mary had the skill set, compassion, and perseverance to make a difference every day.
Mary raised two children, Clare and Michael, who reflect her wonderful qualities. Mary had a love of literature; Michael is a writer. Mary loved nature and the environment; Clare owns a flower shop. Apples don’t fall far from trees. Clare and Michael had close relationships with their mom and will forever cherish their memories of and with her. We’ve been reminiscing about many of them. We remember her laugh and her sense of humor. We talked about the daily family dinners and how important they were to us all … how our house was a hub for their friends … how she fed them and cared about how their lives were going.
As for me, her husband, Rick, ours was a gifted life. I’ve heard it said that in order to have a good marriage you need to argue it out. The biggest argument we ever had was over the paint color for the dining room. I guess we were just lucky (I lost that argument).
But, life intrudes. Mary was ill for quite a number of years. She was diagnosed with lupus in her thirties, which destroyed her kidneys. She had a triple bypass two years ago and a kidney transplant (thanks to Michael) this past December. Life became more complicated for her as her health declined, and, unfortunately, the body can only take so much.
Mary grew up in Drexel Hill. She came from a large family of six children: two sisters and three brothers. She was a Prendie girl. She graduated from Temple, earned a paralegal certificate from Widener, and gained an RN license from DCCC. She was a voracious reader. She loved movies and TV (her dad was the TV critic for The Evening Bulletin). She loved the Phillies (although she wasn’t quite clear on the infield fly rule). She loved to travel, and we had many excellent trips together.
The center of Mary’s life was her family. I’ve mentioned her children, Clare and Michael. They both married so well—Clare and Brendan Mulloy and Michael Chevalier and Juliet Woods. Clare and Brendan gave us Finn, the light of our lives. She has four surviving siblings: Suzanne Tucker, John Polier (Melissa), Emily Hauseman (Bob), and Peter Polier (Lisa). Mary was predeceased by her parents, Rex and Emily Polier, her brother, Rex Jr., and her brother-in-law, Dave Tucker. She also leaves behind a host of nieces, nephews, and dear friends, all of whom she treasured.
