Mary Walch Berry

- – Born on August 2, 1927, in Escanaba, Michigan, Mary (Mimi) passed away peacefully on November 1, 2018, at age 91 surrounded by her family.

She is survived by children Kay Berry, David (Leslie), and John (Naomi) of the Phoenix area and Margaret (Pat) McGuckin and Christel (Byron) Bateman of Colorado; grandchildren David (Trista) Berry, Elizabeth Berry, Kathryn (Chris) Peppler and Kelly McGuckin, Lauren (Conner) Sheppard and Julia Berry, Noa, Eva and Elle Gauthier, Michael and Jeanette Bateman; great-grandson Jax Schlueter and great-granddaughter Margaret Peppler. She was preceded in death by her husband of 64 years Henry VanderHorst Berry.

Mimi graduated in 1950 from the University of Michigan with a BA degree, and upon completion she attended a one-year program at Katharine Gibbs College in Boston. After working in Chicago as an executive secretary, she married Henry in 1951. They moved with their five children from Kalamazoo, Michigan, to Scottsdale in 1961.

Mimi was an active member of the Phoenix community. She was a founding member of the Arizona Kidney Foundation Women’s Board (now the Arizona Women’s Board), chairman and 36year member of the Phoenix Art Museum’s Collectors Study Club, president and Honorary Lifetime Member of Desert Foundation Auxiliary, a board member of the Arizona Cancer Center, a member of the Delta Gamma Alumni Association, and a 50-year member of Paradise Valley Country Club.

A funeral mass will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, November 9, at the Franciscan Renewal Center in Paradise Valley, followed by a reception. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Bay College Foundation - Walch Berry Scholarship Fund, 2001 N. Lincoln Road, Escanaba, MI 49829.