By Graham Swanson
Local Wakefield seniors and Wakefield Memorial High School seniors came together for lunch, conversation, and interviews as part of a cross-generational program titled Seniors to Seniors. The resulting articles written by students using lived experiences from the adults as content are being published as a series. Seniors to Seniors is a collaboration between The Savings Bank, The Room to Write, Wakefield High School, Wakefield Senior Center, Wakefield Daily Item, and JC Marketing Associates.
(Mary was interviewed by Graham Swanson, with a follow up interview conducted by Alexa Yianacopolus. Article written by Graham Swanson.)
Mary Ober is a former nurse who now lives in Wakefield. However, she was born and raised in Malden, where she lived until she got married. She and her husband spent a few years in Melrose, and would eventually settle in Wakefield, where she has lived ever since. This is where Mary raised her family: 3 kids and 8 grandchildren, all of whom she adores.
Mary never went to college, yet this did not hold her back. She attended a nursing program, the LPN, which she graduated from in 1978, at the top of her class. She became a nurse and worked at Mass General Hospital, specializing in cardiology. She spent an incredible 24 years on this job. She doesn’t particularly
miss her job, due to the fact that she was under a lot of demand and stress. She says this was the hardest thing about being a nurse. However, she did make a lot of friends that she is still in touch with to this very day.
Mary is enjoying her retirement. Her hobbies include reading, doing puzzles, participating in Church communities, and watching the show 25 Words or Less. Mary also enjoys meeting up with her friends and getting lunch. Her favorite, however, is spending time with her family and checking on her grandchildren. That is what made the Covid-19 pandemic especially hard for Mary. She maintained touch with her loved ones through email. When she would meet up, her children and grandchildren would come over for brief 20 minute visits. Thankfully she is able to see them more often now.
One of her grandchildren works in Manhattan for a large company, and another played Lacrosse in college at Colgate University in New York. Her grandkids seem to be very well off and Mary is proud of that.
Over the past few years, Mary has found a new passion, traveling. She has been to a multitude of European regions, locations, and countries. Her favorite places that she visited were the Emerald Isle of Ireland and the gorgeous nation of Italy.
Mary is a very wise and caring individual who has dedicated her life to gaining knowledge about her surroundings and getting to know as many people as
she can. If there’s one piece of advice Mary were to give, it would be to be kind, thoughtful, and the best version of yourself you can be.
