MARY LU SCHREIBER

Mary Lu Schreiber, M.D. Mary Lu Schreiber, 72, died of cancer at her home in Berkeley on July 4, 2012. She was born Mary Lu Townley in Croswell, Michigan on March 9, 1940. Her father was a Methodist minister, and their family life centered on Sunday worship services, church suppers and revival meetings. Mary Lu sang in the church choir and recalled winning prizes for memorizing Bible passages, verses she could still repeat throughout her life, long after her early beliefs gave way to doubt. An outstanding student from kindergarten onward, Mary Lu graduated from Arthur Hill High School in three years and went on to Asbury College in Kentucky, where she double majored in biology and home economics. She attended medical school at the University of Michigan and traveled to the Belgian Congo to do medical missionary work. She received her medical degree in 1965 and completed her residency in psychiatry. She married her classmate, Robert F. Schreiber, who was her best friend for the next 44 years. Their first child, Georgia, was born in Ann Arbor and they moved to Berkeley in 1970. Three children followed: Hugh, Caroline, and Peter. Mary Lu stayed home through their childhoods, and in time began a general psychiatry practice. She eventually quit private practice and began consulting as a psychiatrist for The Regional Center of the East Bay, where she found her calling working with people with developmental disabilities. In the 1970s, Mary Lu began to sing with the Oakland Symphony Chorus under the direction of Calvin Simmons. She then sang with the San Francisco Symphony Chorus for 22 years, under Herbert Blomstedt and later Michael Tilson Thomas. This chorus required rigorous yearly auditions and hours of practice, but gave her joy beyond words. An insatiable reader, Mary Lu, it may be claimed, was solely responsible for keeping the local independent bookstore open. Talking about books with Mary Lu was a challenge and a delight, her likes and dislikes open to all. She completed crossword puzzles daily, always in pen, including the most difficult one, from the Saturday New York Times. In recent years, Mary Lu worked fewer hours and took care of her first grandchild, Maya, each Monday. Then came Theo, Dillan and Jude. To see her with her grandchildren was to observe contentment and joy. One cannot evoke the core of Mary Lu's presence in the world without mentioning her high sense of style and glamour. She and Bob loved a party, and her electric vitality sparked their gatherings. She was a force of nature and an artifact of culture, high or low, depending on her mood. Mary Lu is survived by Georgia; Hugh and his wife, Sayuri; Caroline and her husband, Frank; Peter and his wife, Sonya; her four grandchildren, Maya, Theo, Dillan, and Jude; and her brother Robert. Donations in her name may be made to the Berkeley Public Education Foundation, 1835 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA 94703 or online at www.bpef-online.org. A memorial service for Mary Lu will be held on July 25, at 2:00 p.m. at the Mira Vista Country Club, 7901 Cutting Blvd., El Cerrito, CA 94530.