Mary Louise Callahan

On February 17, Mary Louise Callahan (Casey), 92, of Fulton, MD, passed away peacefully at her home surrounded by her family. She is now in God’s embrace, reunited with her loving husband, Bernard Joseph Callahan, Jr. who went home to the Lord a few months earlier.

Mary was born in 1933 to Walter Casey, and Catherine Casey (Sullivan) in Waltham Massachusetts. She was raised on her Grandfather’s dairy farm just outside of Boston and frequently visited her mother’s family in Newport Rhode Island. Growing up in a tight-knit, extended Irish-American family of cousins, aunts, and uncles that lived with and supported each other through the midst of the Great Depression shaped Mary’s lifelong values of resilience, generosity, and community, and may have led to her rare coin collecting and gifting.

Mary graduated from Roslindale High School in West Roxbury Massachusetts and attended Northeastern University in Boston. Prior to becoming a wife and mother Mary worked as a Project Manager for Stone & Webster Engineering and System’s Analyst for GTE Sylvania.

A loving wife, mother, aunt, mother-in-law, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, and friend, Mary had an extraordinary gift for knowing what others needed; whether a smile, a laugh, a hug, a warm meal, a thoughtful gift, a card from a “stranger”, her honest opinion, or her counsel. Generous, charitable, and determined, Mary devoted her life to caring for others and advocating for those she loved.

Her greatest professional passion was education—particularly advocating for children with special needs and their families. In Massachusetts, she was involved in the rollout of Chapter 766, the nation's first right-to-education law for students with special needs. She served on state and regional advisory boards on special education and was recognized by the Massachusetts Commissioner of Education for her advocacy and leadership in helping the students, school systems, and state deliver education to students with special needs.

When the family moved to New Jersey, Mary continued this work by founding and running a non-profit that supported special needs children by helping their families to navigate the institutional and legal systems in their pursuit of education. She remained an active and passionate advocate for children with special needs throughout her life.

As a young mother in Hudson, MA, Mary was well known for her tireless energy, humor, generous spirit, and prodigious capacity to bake. If there was a Callahan child in the class, that classroom was sure to be filled with homemade treats—devil dogs for Halloween, cookies for Christmas, and every year she would spend weeks preparing for the Saint Michael’s church bazaar.

Mary also had a keen eye for fashion, and a memorable sense of style, ensuring her children were always dressed with care. In the 70s, her sons were frequently appointed in plaid pants with turtle-necked shirts and were the first to sport both the leisure suit and the open-collar polyester shirt.

As a child of the Great Depression, Mary valued hard work and self reliance, lessons she passed on to her children by teaching them to cook, clean, and work diligently, all while meeting the inevitable mishaps that ensued with patience, humor, and grace. As part of the learning process, in addition to the occasional pink load of laundry, the Hudson Fire Department visited theCallahan household on more than one occasion, and Mary was on a first-name basis with the entire staff at Marlborough Hospital.

Mary never hesitated to act when someone was in need, quietly organizing help for neighbors and friends, in everyday moments of hardship. During the Blizzard of ‘78, when Mary learned that a neighbor’s husband was out-of-town, she volunteered her sons to dig out their cars, driveway, walks and stairs, free of charge, right after they were done at home.

Life around Mary often carried an element of adventure, and she had a remarkable gift for weaving humor and insight into tales that reflected her curiosity, courage, and deep connection to the people she met along the way. When you meet her in heaven ask her about her exploits, and she’ll no doubt spin you a tale of the people she befriended, or whose feathers were ruffled, in the best Irish storyteller fashion.

Mary lived in many places, from Massachusetts to New Jersey to Virginia to California, and finally to Maryland. In all those places she continued to advocate informally for children and families while expanding her circle of cherished friends. Wherever she went, she found—or created—community. She was the kind of person who would hear of a stranger’s need and quietly act to fill it.

Even in her later years, Mary remained committed to family, faith, and friendship. She and her husband were active in Saint Francis of Assisi Parish in Fulton. Her freezer and cupboards were perpetually stocked with homemade meals and desserts, ready for the unexpected visitor. Her love, kindness, and connection to family and friends were always on full display during the many celebrations she hosted.

Above all, Mary taught her children and grandchildren to blur the lines between stranger and friend, and friend and family. Those lucky enough to meet her were soon embraced as part of her ever-expanding extended family—loved, supported, and prayed for. Mary’s life was a tapestry of humor, kindness, and unshakable family bonds, and she gave of herself fully.

She is survived by her sister Janet Corrigan (Casey), sisters-in-law Rosemary Eachus and Susan Callahan, Anne Callahan (Hardy), Anne Marie Grady, children Bernard and Joanne Callahan, Stephen and Tina Callahan, Timothy and Bentley Callahan, Maureen Jarvis (Callahan) and Eric Jarvis, and Laura Silva (Callahan) and Jose Silva, Grandchildren, Kate Callahan and Meghan Hawkins, Bernard Callahan and Shirley Chen, Ashley Callahan and Dave Gedarovich, Allison Callahan, Emily Callahan, Macyn Callahan, Mary Grace Jarvis, Chloe Silva, Patrick Jarvis, Colin Silva, Wyler Callahan, great-grandchildren Joshua Hawkins Callahan, Lily Callahan and Abigail Callahan.

She was preceded in death by her husband Bernard Joseph Callahan Jr, and sister Alice Shea.

Visitation will be held on Sunday, February 22, 2026 from 4:00pm - 6:00pm, at the Donaldson Funeral Home of Clarksville, P.A., 12540 Clarksville Pike, Clarksville, MD 21029.

A funeral mass will be celebrated on Monday, February 23, 2026 at 10:00am at Saint Louis Catholic Church in Clarksville, MD. Following the Mass, family and friends are invited to a reception in the Social Hall at Saint Louis Catholic Church.

Internment will take place in April (date TBD) in Hudson MA. Before the internment you’re welcome to attend the 9am daily mass at St. Michael’s Church. Mass intention will be for Mary Callahan. Internment will start at 11am in St. Michael’s Cemetery, followed by a reception (location TBD).

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Saint Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, Special Olympics or Warrior Revival.

Donations:

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis TN 38105, Tel: 1-800-805-5856

Warrior Revival, Sandy UT, Tel: 1-801-810-5515, Email: info@warrior-revival.org

The Special Olympics, 2600 Virginia Ave NW, 11th Floor, Washington, DC 20037