Mary Barrett

Mary Ann Elferdink Barrett, age 92, of East Lansing, Michigan. May 16, 1930 - August 23, 2022 Mary Barrett was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on May 16, 1930, daughter of Theodore (Ted) and Adriana (Ann) Elferdink. She attended Ottawa Hills High School, where she ran for senior class Vice-President with the slogan, "Elferdent for Vice-Presidink." Though her classmates lacked her sense of humor, she served on the Student Council, and was voted "Most Likely to Succeed" in her class. Mary attended the University of Michigan on a Regents' Scholarship and earned both her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Special Education. She also met Ralph "Pat" Barrett there, during their freshman orientation week. During her summer breaks from college, Mary worked as a book keeper at Camp Newaygo. She spent the summer of 1953 living with a Dutch family in the Netherlands, as a Community Ambassador for the City of Grand Rapids. On her return, Pat met her at the dock with a ring, and the couple married the following year, while Pat was in the Army. Mary taught at a Grand Rapids elementary school until 1955 and then in Ann Arbor, where Pat was pursuing his PhD degree, and where they welcomed their first child, Robert, in 1958. When Pat's first job for Michigan State University was a two-year contract as English Adviser to the University of the Ryukyus. Mary was expecting their second child, but she boldly accompanied him with toddler Bobby in tow. Thus it was that Christine was born in Okinawa, Japan in 1961. Their third child, Ann, was born in 1964, after they settled in East Lansing, MI, where they have lived in the same home since 1963. More travel followed: a fall semester in Poole, England in 1966 and two years in Bangkok, Thailand, from 1969-1971. Mary's adventures raising a family overseas led her to participate in MSU Community Volunteers for International Programs (CVIP), an organization dedicated to serving international students and families at MSU. CVIP utilized Mary's talents for organization and creativity in various leadership roles, including three years as Co-President with her husband. Her personal focus was Every Tuesday, a weekly group for wives of international students. For decades, Mary shared English conversation, cooking, crafts and culture with young women who appreciated a friendly guide to life in their new home. In recognition of her volunteer service, Mary received many awards, among them the Homer Higbee Award from MSU: International Studies and Programs, and, together with Pat, the Hugh M. Jenkins Award from NAFSA : Association of International Education. During the 1970's-80's, Mary worked part-time for Bubolz Insurance, eventually becoming a certified insurance agent. Her hobbies included eating out, playing bridge, reading murder mysteries, and watching the evening news and Cary Grant movies. In her travels, she looked for fine and unusual owl figurines, until space limitations at home turned her from a collector into a giver of owls. One of Mary's lifelong delights was sharing her beloved summer cottage on Lake Michigan. In all of her international travels with Pat, which continued until March of 2022 and touched every populated continent, Mary never found a place she would rather call "home." She loved the cottage as the place where her family gathered, as well as a place she could express her warm and welcoming heart to friends old and new. She enjoyed body-surfing, cooking for a crowd, sunsets, blueberry picking and the amazement of international friends seeing our freshwater "ocean" for the first time. She would commonly stop, look around, and exclaim, "Aren't we blessed!" Mary "Most Likely to Succeed" Elferdink Barrett was extraordinarily successful in the things most important to her; an enduring marriage, a loving family and extending warm hospitality and friendship to all who knew her. Mary is survived by Pat, her husband of 68 years. She was a loving and devoted mother to her three children: Robert, (Linda) Barrett of Fairlawn, OH; Christine (Greg) Van Nada and Ann Wilde, both from East Lansing, MI, and deeply involved in the lives of her six grandchildren: Isaac and Aaron Barrett of San Francisco; Amy Modrzejewski (Nick) of Champaign, IL; Daniel (Liz) Van Nada of Maitland, FL; James (Kenny) Van Arkada of Kalamazoo, MI; and Steven (Jessica) Van Nada of Lansing, MI. A special delight to Mary were her four great-grandchildren: Nathan and Alissa Modrzejewski and Bonnie and Jesse Van Nada. Mary was preceded in death by her brother, Theodore H. (Todd) Elferdink, Jr. Special thanks to Kindred Hospice, Riley's Grove in Zeeland, MI, and Comfort Keepers of Holland, who assisted the family in caring for Mary during her final days. Donations in Mary's name may be made to the Alzheimer's Association or the Lillian Kumata Scholarship Fund of CVIP. A celebration of Mary's life will be held in East Lansing later in the year. Cremation Arrangements were entrusted to Michigan Cremation & Funeral Care, Grand Rapids, 616-452-3006. To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Mary Barrett, please visit our flower store.