Mary Lucinda Kearns

A memorial service for Mary Lucinda Kearns will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, March 4, 2014 at the Charter House chapel. Mary Lucinda died peacefully in her sleep at 91 years old on Tuesday, February 25, 2014. She was the wife of the late Dr. Thomas P. Kearns. Mary Lou, as she was always known, was born May 1, 1922 in Goshen, Kentucky. She was the daughter of Arthur Stapleton Trigg and Sarah Belle (Reynolds) Trigg.She was a loving wife, mother and grandmother. Her father had a farm along the Ohio River near Louisville, Kentucky.Although raised during the depression, her family's farm provided food in the era of breadlines. She attended grade school in a one room schoolhouse her father built on his own land. In 1940, Mary Lou graduated and was the valedictorian of Liberty High School in La Grange, Kentucky. Mary Lou graduated from the University of Louisville in 1944 with a Bachelor of Arts with honors in history. She met her husband Tom at the universityand her tutoring made it possible for him to graduate as well. When they married on September 13, 1944, he was in uniform. The little rationed gasoline they could obtain got them only to Cincinnati for their honeymoon. After Tom graduated from Medical school, he and Mary Lou moved to Fort Riley, Kansas. In 1949 they arrived in Rochester, Minnesota to begin a three year residency program at the Mayo Clinic. Mary Lou spent the rest of her life in Rochester. She saw her purpose to be a support to her husband in his profession. She was proud that she helped him serve the thousands of people who came to him for care. His practice often involved the treatment of people with degenerative nervous system diseases, diabetes and rare "mystery illnesses". You usually didn't come to see him unless you had a big problem. He was the one who went to the office, but she was his adviser and guide and made everything at home run smoothly so he could be a twelve hour a day doctor for forty years. Mary Lou was a voracious reader who read incessantly about English history, antiques, art and architecture. She read the Wall Street Journal every day. She read Vogue and Robert Frost. Of most interest to her was Eighteenth century design and she furnished her home with furniture of the period over a lifetime of collecting. She visited historic homes and museums all over the world. Her taste was refined and exquisite. She could walk into a store in New York or Chicago, see a lined wool suit, return home and make her own. Her speech was precise. She wore heels, lipstick, long pleated wool skirts and never trousers. Mary Lou was a lifetime member of the Presbyterian Church and from there drew her circle of friends. She enjoyed playing bridge, golf, caring for her Siamese cats and drinking Earl Grey tea. She never lost her southern accent but was a fan of the Minnesota Vikings. Survivors include a son, Stapleton (Kathleen) Kearns; a daughter, Lucinda (Richard) Hepp and three grandchildren, Emily, Helen and Elizabeth. Those who wish may honor Mary Lou's memory with a donation to the University of the Cumberlands, President's Office, 6191 College Station Drive, Williamsburg, KY 40769. University of the Cumberlands (http://www.ucumberlands.edu/) is a small college serving the most impoverished young men and women of Appalachian Kentucky.