Mary Olive Steed

Mary Olive was born in Brooklyn in 1942, a Catholic girl who could pray the rosary and curse like a dockworker in the same breath. She married my father at age twenty and followed him to army bases overseas while he deployed to Vietnam. She worked two jobs, raised three kids, and then went back to school to become a nurse, graduating from Clemson in her 30s. I remember her studying at the kitchen table after we'd all gone to bed, determined. She missed a lot of family stuff due to late-night and weekend shifts, but managed to feed us and keep us going.

She laughed so loud you could hear her across a room. She loved fiercely and without condition. She never met a stranger—everyone was a potential friend, a neighbor, someone to feed or fuss over, and tell our life story to. She bragged constantly about all her family and never let the truth get in the way of a great story. She decorated for every holiday, no matter how small. Halloween, St. Patrick's Day, the first day of spring—there were always seasonal napkins, little ornaments, some cheerful excess that said "life is worth celebrating". She gave us books constantly, sharing her love of reading as if it were a sacrament. She was wholly herself, and the world is different because of it.

She was hot-tempered and mischievous. Generous beyond reason. And she loved my father from the day they met until today, sixty-three years of partnership through thick and thin.

Service details will be announced  

Cremation Society of SC - Brown Funerals will be assisting the family.