Mary Alice (Mahan) Duckett

MARY ALICE (MAHAN) DUCKETT

December 3, 1931 - May 10, 2025

Heaven just got a little rowdier-and a lot more Irish.

Mary Alice (Mahan) Duckett, proud daughter of Clinton, Massachusetts, and spirited pillar of LaGrange, Illinois (with a recent cameo in sunny California), passed away peacefully at the age of 93. She spent her final years exactly as she lived the rest: full of grit, humor, faith, and just the right amount of sass.

Born on December 3, 1931, Mary was the firecracker of a boisterous Irish Catholic family-14 siblings in total! It's said that the only thing louder than the shouting in that household was the arguing over who got the last potato. She was remembered fondly at Clinton High School for being fun-loving, spirited, and everyone's favorite friend.

Before meeting the love of her life, Warren, Mary worked for years as a switchboard operator at the telephone company, where we can only assume she connected a few people-and possibly meddled in a few love stories along the way.

On April 18, 1966, she met Warren, married him, and bravely left Massachusetts for the suburbs of Chicago. Together, they raised two children, Kim and Steve. Mary brought her signature flair to suburban life-along with a kitchen that, let's be honest, was mostly used for storage. While cooking wasn't her strong suit (family legend says she had to be taught how to boil water), her kids loved those boiled hot dogs and Swanson TV dinners...and on lucky nights: McDonald's or the occasional KFC bucket. Mary's home was always very tidy, fully decked out for every holiday, and often the site of wonderful backyard BBQs with neighbors and cousins. And on Christmas Eve she pulled out all the stops, including Pigs in a Blanket and homemade Swedish meatballs!

Mary loved her job as an office aide at Spring Avenue School in LaGrange and was beloved by all of the teachers. She supported her husband Warren through decades of serious illness, including a heart transplant and multiple cancers, until his passing in 2005. She became a grandmother that same year-a title she wore proudly, just above "Patriots fan" and "Cubs enthusiast."

Life handed Mary some heavy blows, including the heartbreaking loss of her beloved son Steve in 2008. But true to her nature, she powered through, wrapping herself in the love of her grandsons Alec and Ryan and her neighbors on South Madison Street in LaGrange. She spent over 50 years in that home, walking daily, helping with bingo at the American Legion, and working at the Thrift Store where she brightened the days of colleagues and customers and often came home happy to have a good bargain in hand.

At 91 years young, she moved west to be closer to her daughter, Kim, and settled in at Webster House in Palo Alto. Despite a healthy outrage over the price of milk in California and a persistent inability to pronounce most of her neighbors' names, she grew to love sitting in her La-Z-Boy chair, with the sunlight streaming in, looking out the window and watching sports on the giant-sized TV that her grandsons gave her for Christmas. She quickly felt at home at Webster House, where she loved the staff, and cherished her time with all of her dinner companions, especially Cathy and Ting. Even as her health began to fail, she said hello to everyone, flirted shamelessly with young doctors, and made everyone feel like the most important person in the room-even when she couldn't remember (or pronounce) their name.

Mary battled constant nerve pain and declining mobility with astonishing strength and very little complaining (unless the food wasn't hot enough or the portions were too big or the sauce was too rich). Her last lucid sentence-while her family was with her holding her hands and saying prayers -was, "I'm not going anywhere yet!" A perfect mic-drop from a woman who never stopped fighting.

A devout Catholic, Mary leaves this world with her bags packed for Heaven-where she no doubt got a hero's welcome from her husband Warren, her son Steve, and 12 of her 13 siblings. (God bless you, Grace Lynch!)

She loved sports (Go Cubs! Go Pats! Go Bulls! Go Irish!), holidays (especially Christmas), walking, card-sending, church-going, and making people smile. Her sense of humor, friendliness, and love for her family will echo far beyond her years.

Mary is survived by her daughter Kim, her son-in-law David, her grandsons Alec and Ryan, her sister Grace, and countless nieces, nephews, neighbors, and friends-many of whom called her "special," "one-of-a-kind," and "an absolute treasure." She made a difference in every life she touched. And she'll be deeply missed by all who were lucky enough to know her.

Mary and her family are forever grateful to every single member of the Webster House team, as well as the team at Stanford Geriatrics, Stanford Hospital, and all of Mary's health care providers, for their care, kindness, and skill.

To honor Mary (and in lieu of flowers), please do something today that Mary loved: take a walk, watch a football game, wear some Irish green, splurge on a lobster roll, or just make someone smile.