Mary M. Mead

Mary Juanita McGugin Mead passed Sunday, October 13th at the age of 80. A morning person, amateur Egyptologist, fried chicken enthusiast, and hobby gardener, she and her indomitable spirit will be missed dearly. Mary’s childhood was characterized by poverty and abuse, which is important to note because in so many ways it defined who she was as a person. Having lived with mistreatment, she sought to escape it by becoming a voracious reader, escaping to the times and places far from her S Street home. She saw the crippling effect that illiteracy played in her family's life and truly believed that embracing education was her best way out of that life. She was further helped by conscientious public school teachers, notably Ms. Burrows and Ms. Monroe, who provided guidance and encouragement when she did not receive it at home. She gained a greater sense of herself and the possibilities of the world around her when she joined the Women’s Army Corps with an eye to going to college using the GI Bill. She graduated from both PJC(PSC) and UWF and then embarked on a long career as a civil servant onboard NAS Pensacola, primarily as a computer programmer. As a lifelong resident, Mary had a special fondness for Pensacola, a primary motivation for her passion project, the restoration of Brian Dunwoody house in the early 2000s which garnered the Joyce Turner Award for Historic Preservation. Though sometimes perceived as strident, she was steadfast in believing fairness should be our shared guiding principle and that each of us has an obligation to ensure it. She demonstrated that belief throughout her life. As an army recruiter during segregation, she insisted, successfully, that her recruits be allowed to lodge in the same place she was staying. When the City of Pensacola misapplied the Certificate of Occupancy requirements to effectively create an additional tax, she called it out repeatedly until the practice was stopped. She tried to increase accessibility to education for children in circumstances similar to those from her childhood, whether by assisting with tuition at schools providing phonics instruction or donating projection microscopes so children with poor vision would not miss out on participating in science instruction. She is preceded in death by her loving husband of 39 years, Gene Mead. She is survived by her brother, Carlos McGugin (Tip), her daughters, Rebecca and Katherine Mead, her grandchildren, Alys (Aziz) and Dylan Mead, and her niece, Carrie McGugin (John). The family would like to express their immense gratitude to those who made her last year a better one: Alfred and Victor, drivers for ITL Solutions; the team at Fresenius West, particularly Jason, Cat, and Laura; the rehab team at West Florida Rehab; and Josh at Baptist Home Health. Visitation will be held at Faith Chapel Funeral Home Friday, October 18, from 12:00pm until a Memorial Service to begin at 1:00pm. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Gulf Coast Kid's House or Council on Aging.

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Mary M. Mead

June 21, 1944 - October 13, 2024