IZARD, Mary Bailey

June 1, 1930 – September 10,

2020

Mary Izard, 90, of Atlanta, GA, died peacefully in her home on

September 10, 2020, surrounded by family and caregivers.

Born to Nathaniel Hammond

Bailey and Mary Sadler Bailey,

Mary was a spirited woman who embraced life with style, grace, curiosity and occasional mischievousness. Raised in Griffin, GA, she was well-educated, aspired to a life of learning and advocated passionately for social issues. A cultured woman with natural beauty and charm that contributed to great accomplishments and a broad footprint, she never abandoned her connections to rural communities and friendships formed during her childhood. Mary was as comfortable and as engaging wearing jeans in a rustic, ramshackle cabin as she was in a very formal setting. During World War II, Mary moved with her family to Philadelphia where she attended the Baldwin School, after which she attended Sweet Briar College, earning a BS in Biology in 1952. At college and after, she was often the belle of the ball, and notably, the Queen of the Sweet Briar May Court. Upon graduation from Sweet Briar, she returned to her family home in Griffin, GA before meeting Atlanta attorney John (“Jack”) Izard to whom she was wed in 1955 until his death 2009. Living in Atlanta, they raised three children, Sadie, John and Bailey. The Izards were active parishioners at All Saints Church, where Mary will be interred following cremation.

Mary’s innate connection with people and the outdoors motivated her to be an early and passionate advocate for a range of social issues. Undaunted by convention, she championed equality, education and conservation. She was a founding member of the Warren T. Jackson Elementary PTA, which embraced integration of Atlanta public schools in the early 1970s. A self-taught botanist, Mary leveraged her learning thru avocations, advocacy and sharing. She was a passionate gardener, in her backyard and in the many noteworthy gardens and natural environments she sought to enhance and protect. An early conservationist, in the 1960s, she joined with like-minded citizens to create the Georgia Conservancy, Georgia’s first dedicated environmental nonprofit and was a stalwart supporter until her death. In the early 1970s, she was a member of the Georgia Botanical Society and a tireless crusader for bringing a botanical garden to Atlanta, efforts which along with others, led to the creation of the Atlanta Botanical Garden, for which she became a lifetime Trustee.

In the early 70s, Mary spent many afternoons weeding and planting in the Fernbank Forest, an expansive urban oldgrowth forest. An enemy of invasive species, Mary reintroduced native plants any place where she could dirty her hands. Mary observed that Atlanta was among the few major metropolitan areas without a natural science museum. She championed the concept, participated in initial fundraising, and, upon its opening, served as a trustee, both active and lifetime emeritus, for the Fernbank Natural Science Center. In 1972, then Governor Jimmy Carter appointed Mary to serve on the Board of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, the first woman to serve in such capacity. She travelled the state during her seven-year term, deepening her knowledge of and connection to Georgia’s diverse and critically important biosystems. Impassioned by Jimmy Carter’s record of and policies for environmental protection, Mary joined the Peanut Brigade, a group of supporters who campaigned door-to-door in New Hampshire on President Jimmy Carter’s behalf during the primaries leading to his election in 1976. Showing an endearing disregard for decorum that shined from time-to-time, Mary was the subject of a New York Times photograph at New York’s posh 21 Club in which is seen using her knife and fork to repair a lunchbox she had converted to a “stylish” purse embossed with Jimmy Carter memorabilia.

Instilling in her children and grandchildren the same passion for the outdoors, Mary included her family in her statewide adventures to mountains, to uninhabited barrier islands, and to old-growth longleaf forests. With Mary and husband, Jack, at the helm, multiple generations of the Izard clan vacationed along the Georgia coast, the mountains of North Carolina and Montana, and later in life to remote areas of the world. In cooler months, Mary would enthusiastically join her spouse, children and grandchildren on hunting trips near her childhood home in Griffin and in rural Southwest Georgia. Mary will be missed but never forgotten by all who had the pleasure of knowing her.

Mary was preceded by her parents, her husband, Jack, and a sister, Ida Sadler Bailey. She is survived by three children, Sadie Izard Pariseau (Rob) of Tampa, John Izard (Stacy) and D. Bailey Izard (Kerry) of Atlanta; 10 grandchildren, Hank Pariseau (Sarah), Nat Pariseau (Cameron), Dan Pariseau, Emily Pariseau, Jack Izard (Grace), Lucy Izard, David Izard, Mack Izard, George Izard, James Izard; and three great-grandchildren, Rosie, Reese & Nate Pariseau. Linda Hardy and Mary’s caregivers, Coraine Bent, Michelle Fairley & Sandy Duhaney are a veryclose second family who came to love, learn from and care for her deeply.

Due to Covid, Mary’s life will be celebrated by her immediate family in her beloved garden. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial gifts to the organizations whose work Mary held most dearly, including All Saints Episcopal Church, The Atlanta Botanical Gardens, Fernbank Natural History Museum and the Georgia Conservancy.