Mary Ginn Weinland

The Weinland family is so sad to share the news that our mom, Mary Ginn Weinland, passed away late Monday night, January 26th, following complications related to her cancer and a recent fall and minor stroke. This was a shock for her and all of us. Just this past November she was walking all over Florence, Italy for three weeks. We are blessed she was able to enjoy messages and stories and laugh right to the end. Mary was an incredible friend and role model for so many throughout her 87 years, and has left a deep hole in our hearts. She was a loving wife to her late husband Tim, unflappable and patient mother to her three sons Rick (Sandy), Chris, and Jay (Heather), and nurturing Nana to her seven grandchildren Lucas, Mia (Joe), Noah, Kenton, Spencer, Duncan and Tessa Weinland.

Mary was born in Ashland, Ohio, and after graduating high school from Hathaway Brown, traveled east to attend Mount Holyoke College, where she majored in religion and minored in Italian. She met the love of her life - Tim - up the road at Williams College, and their 63-year marriage took them on a life journey of school, family, teaching, travel, and volunteer work. After grad school (M.A. in Education at Tufts), they moved to Huntington, NY, where they had three boys in 4 years, before moving in 1969 up to Storrs, CT - home of UConn. They lived the remainder of their lives there, though spent summers up at her cottage in Mullett Lake, Michigan, a place the family has enjoyed since the late 1800's. We will always picture her at golden hour on the porch she called her "happy place."

Mary had tireless energy (did we say 3 boys in 4 years?) and never (well, rarely) complained. As the boys reached school age, she taught at Northwest Elementary school and completed her PhD at UConn. She then worked at the Connecticut State Department of Education, where she led teacher workshops at schools all over the state, before being hired by the UConn School of Education as Assistant Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction.

Mary caught the travel bug early, traveling to Italy during college in the 60's, and spending multiple summers in Denmark in support of Tim's exchange program leadership in the 70's. From there the travel spread and included a teaching stint at Chulalongkorn University in Chiang Mai, and presenting papers at literacy conferences in Sydney, Prague, and elsewhere. After retirement, they visited their kids and grandkids in the far corners of the US and the world, and travelled extensively with lifelong friends Anne and Tony Rash, among others.

Mary's volunteer streak ran deep - she was always committed to serving and helping others. She was a vital, active, and committed member of Altrusa International of Northeast CT for over 20 years, where she served at various times as President, Vice-President, Director, and Chair of Literacy and Outreach. Mary also volunteered for years at the Windham Area Interfaith Ministry, including 10 years on the board, and even more years as queen of the sheet folding crew. Through her work at WAIM, Mary served as mentor to a number of different community members in need.

More recently Mary had seeded a grant fund with the Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut. Her fund is particularly focused on helping support women, girls, and their families in the Windham area. This cause is near and dear to her heart, and captures her desire to leave a lasting legacy for those in need in her community.

As the U.S. political winds turned darker, her volunteer work extended to staffing the DNC phone banks during the '08, '12, and '16 presidential elections, and her activism increased, as attested by the protest signs decorating their garage. From regular attendance at local protests in Willimantic, to traveling to the 2017 Women's March in Washington (at age 78!), she wore her political views on her sleeve. And on her shirts, and hats, and bumpers.

Tim's passing last March certainly took a toll, yet Mary's energy carried on. Just this past summer and fall, she could be seen paddle boarding at Mullett Lake, dancing at her granddaughter's wedding, getting to her gym and swimming sessions, and embarking on a 3-week trip to Italy. She was an inspiration and role model for all who knew her. The world has lost a kind, thoughtful, tireless and nurturing mother, grandmother, teacher, friend, volunteer, and all-around special person. We will miss her so much, but are comforted in knowing our Dad is now reunited with our mom, our Nana, our Mary.

A memorial service and celebration will be held later in the Spring, with details to come. In lieu of flowers, please consider contributing to the Mary Ginn Weinland Fund for Windham Women and Girls.

For more information about the Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut, please click here.