Obituary of Mary Twomey

Mary Lou Twomey, who worked in a Missouri defense plant during World War II and went on to teach hundreds of elementary-school students during a career with the Oak Park schools that spanned more than 20 years, died December 5,2012, in New Jersey, where she had moved in 2007. Mrs. Twomey was 88. Born in Chicago, Mrs. Twomey earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Kansas City and a master's degree from Concordia Teachers College, and worked as an accountant at the Pratt-Whitney aircraft engine plant in Kansas City during the war. Afterwards, she taught in Cicero, and in 1963 began teaching at Washington Irving elementary school in south Oak Park. She became well known among her fifth grade students for, among other things, rewarding good work with an occasional M&M. After retiring in 1984, she worked as a docent at the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio in Oak Park, and as a volunteer court watcher in Maywood, monitoring the performance of judges. Fond of bridge and any discussion of politics, she traveled extensively in Europe and the United States, and made an annual pilgrimage to the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Canada. In the years immediately before she moved from Oak Park, she lived at Holley Court Terrace, where she had many friends. Mrs. Twomey is survived by her three children, Ann Riley of Tallahassee, F1.; Catherine of Charlottesville, Va.; and Steve of Montclair, N.J.; and by three grandchildren. Her husband, Michael, predeceased her.