Mary Herold

Mary Herold (Boyle), age 61 of Ridgecrest, CA, died suddenly and unexpectedly on Tuesday, July 1, 2025 at Marian Regional Medical Center in Santa Maria, CA. She was a much beloved youngest daughter, sister, mother, and friend as well as a valued and brilliant Clinical Laboratory Scientist of over 30 years.



Born December 1963, Mary was the youngest daughter in a loud and loving Catholic family. She grew up fearless, navigating the deserts surrounding her birthplace as well as following in her older siblings footsteps. Besides braving the scorpions, tarantulas, vinegaroons, and snakes, Mary loved inventing traps for birds and playing with horned lizards. Mary was a high school honor student and varsity field hockey player in Virginia, achieving recognition as belonging to the top 10 percent of her graduating class. She made lifelong friends during her time on the east coast. In college at Cal Poly SLO, she enjoyed participating in triathlon, bicycle riding, and skeet shooting. She met the love of her life, Mark, and married soon after graduation.



In her career, Mary's particular skillset was in microbiology, molecular biology, and parasitology. Mary's passion for medicine and compassion for the patients under her care and stewardship was evident in everything she accomplished in her career. From her time at the Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City, University of Colorado at Denver, Twin Cities Hospital in Templeton, CCPC in SLO, and finally Marian Regional Medical Center in Santa Maria, Mary was always a key and essential member to her workplace.



Mary loved gardening, cooking, and dreamed of founding a truffle orchard in North County. She was a talented costume and fabric ornament maker, crafting several of her daughter's over-the-top halloween outfits. She enjoyed tropical vacations, collecting unique jewelry, and spending free time with her cherished sisters and brothers, nieces and nephews.



Mary was an amazing mother to her treasured daughter, Zoe. Mary found her true calling as a nurturing, protective, and attentive mother who encouraged Zoe to follow her heart, be brave and kind, and to always do what was right no matter the difficulties she faced.



Always optimistic, effervescent, brilliantly intelligent, innovative, and feisty, Mary was the perfect mix of tough love and comfort. She had a ribald and mischievous sense of humor and she was an amazingly loyal, hard working, and kind human being.



Mary A. Boyle Herold is preceded in death by her parents, John and Roseann Boyle, and older brothers, Johnny and Patrick Boyle. She is survived by her daughter, Zoe; siblings, Anne, Elizabeth, Dotty, Kathy, Birdy, Clare, and Chris; ex-husband, Mark; and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, and siblings in-laws.



A celebration of life will be held Saturday October 18, 2025 on Morro Bay Rock Beach in Morro Bay, CA from 1-3 p.m. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to Woods Humane Society, the International Otter Survival Fund, Planned Parenthood, or ECHO.