Mary Yvette Gonzalez Mueller, 73, of Mt Pleasant, SC passed away just after midnight on October 12, 2013 after a two year battle with leukemia. Mary was born and lived the first 18 years of her life in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico. She attended college at Notre Dame College in Baltimore, MD and met her husband to be, Joe, on a blind date at a homecoming football game in Annapolis in the fall of 1960. Following graduation in June of 1961 with a degree in Biology, Mary worked at Johns Hopkins doing cancer research while Joe attended nuclear power and submarine training in Connecticut. They were married on April 7, 1962 in Annapolis. Joe’s Navy career took them to many places across the United States where they made friendships that have lasted through their lives. Mary and Joe have three children. Rebeca lives in Mt. Pleasant with her husband, Toan, and their son, J.T. Stephen lives in Vietnam with his wife, Phuong, and their sons, Brian and Ben. Kenneth also lives in Vietnam where he is an entrepreneur. Mary was a volunteer for many years at the Connecticut Prison for Women and State Home for the Mentally Impaired, Meals on Wheels, and Junior Women and was a real estate sales person in Ledyard, Connecticut, all while raising their three children with her husband at sea. She was a great success in all these because of her bright, cheerful nature and loving concern for her clients. When the family was transferred to Charleston, Mary completed her Master’s degree at The Citadel and began her professional life as a social worker. She served as a counselor at the Navy Family Services Center in Charleston for seven years and then worked for the South Carolina Department of Mental Health. Mary was the first Department of Mental Health staff member assigned to The Dee Norton Lowcountry Children’s Center where she served abused children and their families for five years. Mary retired in 2006 from the South Carolina Department of Social Services where she had served as a clinical consultant with Managed Treatment Services. In all these roles Mary was a tireless advocate for children and mentor to the staff she supervised. Mary’s professional life was dedicated to helping children. Her personal life was dedicated to her family, her husband, her children and grandchildren, her brothers, Tito and Luis, and her sisters, Marta and Carmen, as well as to her many friends in the Charleston area and across the country. Mary brought energy to every situation and environment in the form of her humor and her ability to connect with people. This energy will be carried forward by the many who were so positively impacted by Mary’s presence. There will be a memorial service for Mary at Mepkin Abbey on Tuesday, October 15 at 3 PM. Memorial donations in lieu of flowers may be made to The Dee Norton Lowcountry Children’s Center (www.dnlcc.org). A memorial message may be sent to the family by visiting our website at www.jhenrystuhr.com. Visit our guestbook at www.legacy.com/obituaries/ charleston. Tags: CGC 1981
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