Mary Duryee

Mary grew up on an apple farm in Sebastopol and never strayed far from there. Upon graduation from Analy High School in 1951, she married her one and only sweetheart, Guy Duryee. Together they built their first home on Brookside Avenue on part of an apple orchard owned by Guy’s grandmother. They designed it on paper borrowed from the local butcher, laid out its foundation under the guidance of Mary’s stepfather, Don Chapson, and built it with their own hands with the help of Mary’s brother, Sal Re. Their total construction costs came to $2500. It wasn’t long before Mary and Guy filled the second bedroom with their son Don and daughters Lynn and Sue.

Mary and Guy moved to Mill Valley in 1959 so Guy could complete his college education and pursue his dream of becoming a builder. Over the next 40 years while Guy built homes and commercial buildings, Mary participated as a full partner in the enterprise. She was a talented designer of homes (“Guy, we need a window over the kitchen sink!”) as well as a willing hand when extra help was needed on the site. She was the fastest painter on the crew, an accomplished finisher of hardwood floors, and a skillful tiler of countertops – in addition to her incomparable skills of providing delicious lunches on the job every day.

After raising their family in Marin, Mary and Guy returned to their beloved Sebastopol in 1989 with the stated goal of “taking it easy.” Instead, they developed two major commercial properties, notably transforming an abandoned apple brandy distillery in the heart of downtown Sebastopol into a multiplex movie theater, where Mary tiled the bathrooms. They also developed a winery on Barlow Lane on the site of a former apple processing plant.

Mary was happiest in the kitchen cooking for a crowd and had a special brilliance for baking – and giving away – mouthwatering apple pies from her orchard of Gravenstein apples. She would turn out 20-30 pies without breaking a sweat. Her flaky crust recipe was a well-guarded secret that now is lost to the world. Additionally, she had a soft spot in her heart for animals – once incubating turkey eggs and handfeeding the chicks whose descendants now live in droves on her farm. She never met a cat she didn’t love and took care of many, coaxing wild ones into eating out of her hand and convincing friends and family into adopting them. She was the proud author of a sweet story, “Sneaker,” an illustrated book, told in rhyme, about making friends with one such “scaredy cat.”

Mary lived by the adage, “It’s nice to be nice.” She extended kindness (and a helping hand) to all and believed in the fundamental goodness of people. She thought there were few problems that couldn’t be solved by a plate of warm cookies and a fresh pot of coffee. She will be remembered for her bountiful kindness, her cheerfulness, generosity and good humor.

Mary is survived by her brother Sal Re of Sebastopol, her children Don (Pat Thurston), Lynn (Neil Moran), Sue; her 9 grandchildren (“my little chickadees”); her 2 great grandchildren; many cousins, friends, and admirers; as well as a menagerie of 4-legged friends.

A funeral mass will be celebrated on June 8, 2019 at 11:00 at St. Sebastian’s Church in Sebastopol. A reception will follow. In lieu of flowers, a gift in Mary’s honor might include: baking a cake for someone you love, planting an apple tree, adopting a stray (or two), or a donation to an animal shelter.