Mary Chihiro Covey

January 15, 1925 - October 24, 2016

Despite her advanced age, the end came unexpectedly. Mary Covey faced her rapid demise with the same quiet resolve that had marked her life. Always the family mainstay, her passing leaves us at loose ends.Mary was born on Terminal Island, Los Angeles County, California, on January 15, 1925. Her parents, Iyomon and Nakae Ono, were immigrants from the fishing village of Tanami-mura in Wakayama-ken, Japan. Mary was "older sister," who, along with "older brother" Frank, was responsible for her younger sister and brothers while their parents were out working.She attended public school in Chula Vista and San Pedro until WWII forced the relocation of Japanese-Americans living on the West Coast. She graduated from high school in the Manzanar internment camp, where she also worked in the orphanage and the hospital, with the goal of becoming a medical research doctor.Toward the end of the war, Mary and her mother were in the vanguard of contract laborers who migrated to New Jersey to work in the Seabrook Farms frozen food packing plant. Later, thanks to the support of the American Friends Service Committee, she was accepted at Juniata College in western Pennsylvania, where she earned a Bachelor's degree in Biology. During summer jobs working in the frozen food lab, Mary met a Johns Hopkins student, Winton Covey, who was to become her husband after college graduation.The young couple moved around the US following Winton's academic career—to Texas, Washington state, Nebraska, upstate New York, and finally to Athens, West Virginia, where they made their home for 42 years. During that time, Mary worked in various capacities at Pipestem State Park, with the US Census Bureau, and as a library associate at Concord College. They moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2010.Over the years, Mary was active in the local chapter of the American Association of University Women and in helping Japanese college students adjust to American life. She enjoyed reading, quilting, watching the live NHK feed on her big satellite dish TV, giving demonstrations of traditional Japanese koto music, working jigsaw puzzles, and watching football and baseball in season (Go Giants!).Mary is predeceased by her parents, her dear husband Winton, their son David Bruce, sister Ellen Nishiyama, and brothers Roy and Ray Ono. She is survived by her older brother Frank Ono of Bridgeton, NJ, daughter Mandy Covey and beloved "other daughter" Amy Barron of San Francisco, in-laws Kumiko Ono, Ann Ono, Mariko Ono, Edwin and Alice Jo Wills, Jerry and Joan Covey, Dominic and Shirley Mele, and many wonderful nieces and nephews.Lucid right up to her final illness, Mary was still managing the situation, "Don't grieve for me—just take care of each other." We have our instructions.