Mary Eileen LeFebvre

The adorably fierce Mary Eileen (Jackson) LeFebvre transcended into heaven on February 10th, 2024. She was born into the home of Paul and Kathleen Jackson on April 21st, 1952 in Detroit MI; and grew up alongside six siblings. It was the time of dinner bells and bikes, and a flurry of shared friends across a tight-knit community. Dinnertime guests were common, and consisted of either exchange students or engineers, someone her dad brought home to enlighten the children to the world beyond. Before graduating from Marian High School, Mary spent her junior year abroad in Ecuador, in a student exchange program created by her parents. After falling in love with Ecuador and the people she met, she later returned for a couple of years to teach English and grow as a young adult.

Years later, Mary met her husband, Larry LeFebvre, and they moved to Kansas City, where they built their life and raised their family. Mary enjoyed her days alongside her children, playing bridge, spending time with friends, traveling the world, and actively participating in her parish.

A champion for love and the humanities, Mary felt moved to pursue a deep vocation to children. She began by fostering babies from the L.I.G.H.T house before going on to foster over 250 children for the state of Missouri. This was truly her life's work, and earned her the nickname, 'Mary Mom.' If you attended church at St. Thomas More, she was easy to spot as the one always rocking, even if she no longer had a baby in her arms. In addition, she taught courses on parenting through Foster Adopt Connect so families could reunite, attended court hearings to translate and advocate for Spanish-speaking families, and was steadfast in her efforts to reduce childhood neglect and abuse within Kansas City. She believed in everyone's ability to overcome challenges, adhering to the motto, 'where there's a will there's a way.'

Mary will be remembered with a smile on her face - always giving one of hers to someone who'd forgotten theirs. Her presence is survived by those she loved and who loved her, including but not limited to her husband Larry LeFebvre; daughters, Nicole LeFebvre, Cara LeFebvre, and Leah Hill; the son she never had, Si Halit; grandchildren Eileen, Ava and Aiden; siblings Joe (Mary) Jackson, Ann Harrod, Jim Jackson, Paul (Shari) Jackson, Marge (Jeff) Jeromin, Tom (Linda) Jackson; all of her nieces and nephews; her in-laws on the LeFebvre side; her Ecuadorian mother, Nene, sisters Pilar and Monica, and the entire Andrade family; the warriors who were by her side during her hospital stay, Judy, Chris, Becky, Rita, and Pam; long time besties Vanessa, Scottie and Peggy; her Cod sisters, STM friends, god children, colleagues, therapists, social workers, and many more she met in her career, and all of her foster babies especially the very first one in her home, Lisa Lee.

A memorial service celebrating her life will take place on September 28, 2024 at 10:30am at St. Thomas More Catholic Church, 11800 Holmes Road, Kansas City, MO 64131. Celebration of life party to immediately follow, with details to be announced at a later date.