Mary Webster Minich

1944 - 2018

Mary Webster Minich was born May 5, 1944, in Schenectady, New York, the daughter of Marshall and Hildred Minich. She is survived by two brothers, George Minich, of McLean, Virginia, and John Minich of Fresno, California; and by three nieces, Megan Minich, Kirsten Minich Mahony and Laura Minich Zitske; and six grand-nieces and nephews. After attending public schools through the tenth grade in the suburbs of Syracuse, New York, and completing high school at the International School in The Hague, The Netherlands, Mary went to attend Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts, where she received her Bachelor of Arts in history. After she graduated from Smith, Mary taught high school English in Parlier, California, before moving to Davis, California where she received a Master of Arts in English at University of California, Davis, and served as a Teaching Assistant for several years. Mary then spent a year in Germany staying in a German convent with an aunt who was a nun, before moving to Berkeley, California, which offered her more cultural activities and access to the U.C. Berkeley library, which she believed was better for her graduate studies. During her years in Berkeley, Mary contributed to the community as a docent at the De Young Museum in San Francisco and as a member of the board of directors of Friends Outside, an organization which provides support for families of those in county jail. Mary left school and went into the world of financial consulting and insurance, later moving her business to Sacramento, California, where she continued taking classes in art, was a docent at the Crocker Museum, and was active in a local branch of the Friends of the Sacramento Library. After retiring from her career in the financial sector, Mary began making jewelry, using profits to support a project of her church, Fremont Presbyterian Church, to educate youth in Ethiopia. Mary died peacefully May 25, 2018, at home, in the house she personally with friends helped to build in Sacramento. Mary was a well-read life-long learner and a gifted teacher, generous with her time, and a person who recognized and appreciated beauty in art, music, and nature. There will be a celebration of her life at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, June 30, 2018, at Fremont Presbyterian Church, 5770 Carlson Drive, Sacramento, California. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to Fremont Presbyterian Church for "student education in Ethiopia" to continue Mary's passion to see youth in very rural areas of Ethiopia receive an education.