Mary Elizabeth Lardie

TRAVERSE CITY — Mary Dorman Lardie of Old Mission Peninsula passed beyond the veil on Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009.

Born July 16, 1913, in St. Louis, Mo., Mary Elizabeth Harris was the middle daughter to Grace Noland Harris and Fredrick Maxwell Harris. The photo shown is her Odessa, Mo., high school graduation picture taken in 1931.

Throughout her life, Mary's path went well beyond the traditional roles and boundaries set for women of her generation. Graduating from Kansas City Junior College in 1933 with an associate's degree in Art, she was hired shortly thereafter as the first editorial staff member of a fledging greeting card company known then as "Hall Brothers" — now known throughout the world as Hallmark Cards. She once described her starting pay as "$20 per month and all I could learn." Mary and her husband, Harry C. Dorman Sr., moved to Traverse City in 1939, where she continued her work with Hallmark from her home on Three Mile Road.

The 1940s brought her and Harry Sr. three surviving children, Harry C. (Sheri) Dorman Jr. of Traverse City, Mary Frances Dorman, of Bellaire, and Kathleen (Don) Wagner, of Lexington, Ky.

Harry Sr. preceded her in death in 1983. Also preceding her in death was her older sister, Mildred Maxine.

Mary was creative and energetic enough to effectively balance family and career. In the 1950s, while continuing to write for Hallmark Cards, she designed and marketed a successful teen line of scrapbooks, diaries, and related items which sold nationwide. She also invented and marketed several novelty items, the most notable of which was a spanking device called a "Fanny Paddle," which eventually sold internationally. She traveled nationally throughout the '60s and '70s marketing her teen line and novelty items.

Well-known in her field, she was listed in "Who's Who In The Midwest," "Who's Who In American Women," was given a biographical entry into the Library of National Archives, Washington, D.C., as well as the "Dictionary of International Biography," Cambridge, England. She never really "retired," continuing her work well into the 1980s. In 1987 she was interviewed on National Public Radio's "All Things Considered," and was featured on a national Hollywood television talk show in connection with her unique career.

In 1993 she donated nearly a thousand of her best-selling Hallmark card originals to the company's archives, and was honored in October of that year at Hallmark headquarters in Kansas City for her contribution to the company and greeting card industry. Her career as a greeting card writer and illustrator spanned more than 60 years, during which she wrote more than 8,000 cards, more than half of them published by Hallmark.

In 2001, at age 88, she began writing a book about her life and career entitled "It's All In The Cards," which was self-published in 2003 in time for her 90th birthday celebration, where it was presented to family and friends.

Mary married Oakley O. Lardie of Old Mission Peninsula in 1979, enjoying his loving companionship for more than 25 years, during which they traveled extensively. They were long-time members of St. Joseph Catholic Church on Old Mission Peninsula. Oakley preceded her in death in 2005.

Surviving Mary, in addition to her own three children, is her loving sister, Martha Mae (Marcy) Cooper of Elgin, Ill.; a step-daughter, Judy (Lardie) Freundl; and step-sons, Charles and Kenneth (Mary) Lardie of Old Mission Peninsula; six grand children; four great-grandchildren; many cherished nieces and nephews.

Among the many joys she experienced during her 35,000-plus days on the planet was her love of singing — cultivated in part by her mother's exposing her to Vaudeville in the 1920s. As a child, Mary and her mother Gracie sang on Sundays over on their telephone party line, and once entertained prisoners at the infamous Federal Prison at Leavenworth, Kansas. In her 90s she still sang great harmony, celebrating her 94th and 95th birthdays singing 30-minute sets with her son at the Hayloft Inn in Leelanau County. And though the words came with difficulty in her final days, she never forgot the tune or harmonies.

Mary was a person of many facets. She was creative, outspoken, eccentric, loving, protective, quick-tempered, nurturing, open-minded, humorous-and-a-humorist, both religious and spiritual, and at times a bit of an actress. More than anything she was an individualist who thought for herself and who, for more than nine decades, lived beyond the roles prescribed for women of her time. As someone remarked at her time of passing, "She definitely lived a life to die for!" She will be greatly missed, clearly remembered, and among the first to reach out in welcome to those she loved when they too eventually land upon distant shores.

In lieu of a funeral, a memorial service honoring and celebrating her life will be held at a later date. Memorials may be sent to the no-kill pet shelter A.C. Paw, P.O. Box 94, Acme, MI 49610, or Hospice of Northwest Michigan.

All are welcome to share thoughts and memories on Mary's online guest book at www.reynolds-jonkhoff.com.

A special note of thanks to Bortz Health Care of Traverse City, for their good and compassionate care during her last year; to Hospice of Northwest Michigan for their help in her final days; and to the Reynolds-Jonkhoff Funeral Home, Traverse City, who is serving the family.

This obituary was originally published in the Record-Eagle.