Mary was born in Buffalo, New York in 1959 to Joan and John Brackett. She was a precocious young red-headed lady, and her bright mind allowed her to excel in elementary school. She dreamed of helping others all her life, and so she decided to study to become a nurse as soon as the opportunity arose. Hard worker that she was, young Mary was able to obtain her nursing credentials while in her final year of high school at Iroquois Central, and she immediately began working, first at Mercy Hospital in South Buffalo. She was beloved by her fellow nurses, her supervising doctors, but most importantly by her adoring patients, the kind souls of Buffalo, New York. They came to her with their sadness, loneliness, sickness and she sent each one away with laughter, health, and happiness – she was a young nurse who made people feel loved and healed. She wore her starched white hat, white nursing dress, and spotless white shoes with pride and dignity.

Only a few short years after high school graduation, when she was just 19 years old, she met a young man at a disco. Mary was well a brought-up girl and a faithful Catholic, but she loved to go and dance with her close girlfriends. One night at Club 747 – an old airplane hollowed out to entertain the youth in Cheektowaga – she met a young man from Canada and decided to take a chance on him. She had never had a boyfriend, her standards had been much too high, and she was working full time making her own way in life. She was also living in a dangerous home rife with verbal and emotional abuse - her mother had remarried after her own divorce from Mary’s father, and the new man was simply awful. After a very short long-distance courtship, she married the young man from Canada – she was only 20 years old on their wedding day. They were married at St. Mary’s Shrine Church at Pine and Broadway and their reception was at The Roycroft Inn.

The man from Canada was allowed into the country and earned his Green Card only because Mary made it possible. She supported him for decades and was deeply proud when he became a naturalized citizen of the United States of America. He lost job after job, and Mary knew it was time for another plan. She eventually motivated him to earn a college degree and to become an accountant, allowing him to have a career that would have otherwise have been impossible without an undergraduate education.

For decades, Mary continued to work as a nurse, raised four children, ran their entire household on a shoestring budget, and made everyone’s lives magical and filled with happiness. Her husband continued to lose his jobs – over 14 times throughout their marriage. They were constantly in debt and on the verge of losing their home, however, whenever another job loss reared its head, Mary would buckle down once more, taking on extra shifts at the hospital to make ends meet, always putting on a happy face for her children, always putting her head down and getting things done for everyone’s benefit.

She was beloved in her South Buffalo neighborhood on Heussy Avenue, and at Saint Agatha’s elementary school. Her bright blue house – 20 Heussy Avenue in Buffalo, New York - surrounded by flowering plants was always filled with the neighborhood children – who she often fed on weekend days, despite having barely enough food for her own family.

She continued to work as a nurse, survived triple negative breast cancer (and the hell of chemotherapy and radiation), raised four children, including one daughter with profound developmental disability. Mary was told that this eldest daughter would never learn to read or to write, and would likely live in an institution all of her life. Mary fought dozens of teachers, committees on Special Education, and other school officials who told her that her daughter would never succeed, and that the Inclusion Model of Special Education was not a good fit for her. Her daughter did indeed learn to read, and to write, she held numerous paid jobs, became a published author and a visual artist whose work has been featured at multiple shows in the Buffalo area. She was an early beneficiary of the Inclusion model, and graduated from Orchard Park High School and later a professional Culinary Academy, all due to her positivity and Mary’s relentless belief in her daughter.

Mary dreamed of a home in the country, despite loving her South Buffalo neighborhood dearly. She was a country mouse at heart, and she had her sights set on a tiny piece of land and a little country home where she would find quiet and just breathe. In 1999, after nearly 3 years on the failing South Buffalo housing market, Mary’s home finally sold – only for $35,500, much less than she had bought it for years before. She and her family moved into an old yellow farmhouse in the town of Orchard Park – Mary nicknamed the home “Rainbow’s End,” because it was her dream house, at the end of her own rainbow.

Now, in April 2026, after Mary learned of her husband’s plan to divorce her, Mary is left with a loving family, but without financial security. Her husband, who moved to the Southwest abruptly to be with another woman after years of infidelity, is due half the value of their little yellow farmhouse. Mary has nothing in her accounts to buy her half of the house, and a judge will likely order the sale of her home next month.

We are starting this GoFundMe page in an effort to help Mary to save her home, where she and two of her daughters currently live with her. Her eldest daughter even became so ill that she required a kidney transplant on January 1st 2026, and has been bravely recovering at the family home.

Mary needs at least $55,000.00 to save her home. Please consider a donation of any amount. All amounts are fully tax deductible and will be worth major brownie points when St. Peter meets you at those pearly gates.

Thank you for your time spent reading this and thank you for your help in advance! Go Bills!