A woman with a passion for social justice & a dedication to service, Mary completed her brave journey with ovarian cancer on July 5, 2009. She died at her home in NE Portland surrounded by family, friends, & her religious community.

In June of 2007 after her diagnosis & initial treatment, Mary returned to her hometown of Portland, Oregon from Washington, D. C. where she was serving as Executive Director of Jesuit Volunteers International (JVI).

Mary was born in Portland, Oregon on April 3, 1956 to Janice & Norbert E. Medved, MD, their fourth daughter. She attended Our Lady of the Lake Grade School in Lake Oswego, Oregon & St. Mary’s Academy High School in Portland, Oregon, graduating in 1974. She went on to Georgetown University in Washington, D. C., graduating magna cum laude in 1978 with a major in Public Administration. In 1996 Mary received a Masters of Arts in Religious Studies from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. Recently she was trained as a life coach in the Falling Awake Program by Dave Ellis & Breakthrough Enterprises.

In 1995 Mary became a member of a religious community that she had known since childhood, the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus & Mary (SNJM). She made her final vows in September of 1998.

Over her work life Mary acted as a significant leader at the local, state, national, & international level in a number of vital areas: volunteer service programs, social justice & public policy advocacy, human services & community organizing, & social justice & peace issues with her religious community. It was her profound faith, nurtured from childhood, that powered her decisive words & compassionate actions in all these areas.

In August of 1978 Mary officially began her work in volunteer programs by serving as a full-time grassroots community organizer in Bellingham, Washington sponsored through the Jesuit Volunteers Corps (JVC) & VISTA. Next she served as an Area Director for JVC Northwest from August, 1979 – August, 1981 & then as Executive Director of JVC Northwest from June, 1986 -June, 1991.

Moving from Portland to Seattle, she became Executive Director of the Intercommunity Ministry Volunteer Program for the next four years. In 2005 she worked on the JVC National Task Force, followed by her service as Executive Director for Jesuit Volunteers International (JVI) based in Washington, D.C. in 2007 & 2008. She also worked as President & member of the Catholic Network of Volunteer Services Board of Directors from November of 2007 – October of 2008. In these endeavors where she facilitated others’ direct service, Mary lived out her deep belief that all people deserve loving & skillful help in their distress.

Mary also acted as a strong leader in social justice education & public policy advocacy. Her part-time Congressional internship during college for Representative Les AuCoin began this important journey & soon led to her becoming a founding member of several groups: Religious Committee Concerned about Central America in 1980 & Catholic Peace Ministry in Oregon Board Of Directors in 1994. From a task force for the Archdiocese of Portland, Oregon on peace issues to research on public policy issues for the Catholic bishops to setting up a peace & justice diocesan office for Yakima, Washington, Mary served as chairperson, public policy assistant & director for various groups pursuing social justice & enlightened public policy. From 1985- 2000, this work bore much fruit, one project leading to the next. During this time from 1996-1997, she worked for the Center for Concern in Washington. D. C. as the primary staff person for a project on the global economy. From 1999-2004 she served as Co-Chairperson & member on the National Advisory Committee for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, the US bishops vital domestic poverty effort. In all these endeavors Mary followed her passion for the well being of all persons.

Human services & community organizing were two related areas that moved Mary to heartfelt action. Homelessness was one important focus of her concern. From the Burnside Consortium Advisory Board to the Burnside Loaves & Fishes Center Steering Committee to Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon’s Special Committee on
Homelessness, she pursued her desire to serve the homeless. This culminated in her work as Development & Volunteer Coordinator for Burnside Projects (now Transition Projects) from May 1982-February, 1985. A few highlights of her work in human services & community organizing were her time as live-in staff member & development consultant at Rita’s Place, a house of hospitality for ) women & children in need of shelter, & her efforts as a board member for Pilgrims’ Partner Foundation (PPF), which assists & supports non profits in their service to the economically & socially disenfranchised. Mary’s work showed her persistent regard for human suffering in some of its most troubled faces.

Mary was an active leader in her religious community. She served, for example, on a committee dealing with water as a human right & one concerned with preventing human trafficking among others. She was part of the SNJM Delegation to the United Nations meeting on water, sanitation, & human settlement. With her religious community Mary worked toward a better world.

Mary will be remembered for her voracious reading, her keen intelligence, & her dry sense of humor. Her large ability to connect people was reflected in her wide circle of friends. Her organizational skills & her persistence amazed her friends & colleagues. Beginning with her youthful leadership of a folk group at Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church, Mary always had music in her life, using it to share her faith with others.