A funeral for Mary Granger has been scheduled for Saturday at First Presbyterian Church, 4300 Main St. The time has not yet been determined. Memorial gifts in Granger’s honor can be made to the I Have A Dream Foundation or the Mary Granger Sculpture Garden, c/o The Community Foundation, 1053 Officers Row, Vancouver WA, 98661.
When Mary Granger saw a need in the community, she acted.
She had the vision to develop solutions, the energy and enthusiasm to motivate others, and the drive to see a project through to the end.
She was passionate about the community and compassionate toward people in need.
She fought and survived two bouts of ovarian cancer in the 1990s. But early Saturday morning, the Vancouver philanthropist died after battling pancreatic cancer since February. She was 78 years old.
“This is a huge loss to our community,” said Rick Melching, president of the Community Foundation for Southwest Washington. “Mary was a pioneer and an entrepreneur in philanthropy, and she elevated our community’s philanthropic tradition in a grand and gracious way.”
A funeral for Mary Granger has been scheduled for Saturday at First Presbyterian Church, 4300 Main St. The time has not yet been determined. Memorial gifts in Granger's honor can be made to the I Have A Dream Foundation or the Mary Granger Sculpture Garden, c/o The Community Foundation, 1053 Officers Row, Vancouver WA, 98661.
Granger helped launch numerous organizations in Clark County. Most recently, Granger founded I Have A Dream of Southwest Washington in 1995.
The program has helped 330 students from four Vancouver elementary schools in low-income neighborhoods prepare for, get into and graduate from college. Project leaders and mentors help students get into college or career-training programs. Sponsors provide tuition assistance when students exhaust scholarship opportunities and grants.
Deanna Green, project coordinator for I Have A Dream, said the students in the program felt important to Granger and felt like she was a part of their families.
“Dreamers have told me, ‘When Mary’s at our events, it feels like the president is here, or the queen,’” Green said. “There was just something special about events when she was there.”
Those students are now living all across the country and the world, obtaining master’s degrees, attending law school, working as doctors and completing service work, Green said.
“Her impact is going to impact the world at some level,” she said.
Granger was also one of the founders of the Community Foundation for Southwest Washington in 1984. Since then, the foundation has awarded about $90 million in grants and scholarships. She was a founder of the Children’s Trust, which has awarded nearly $1 million to meet the needs of kids in Clark, Cowlitz and Skamania counties, Melching said.
Granger helped start the Principal’s Checkbook program that has provided nearly 100 schools in three counties with $500,000, he said. Granger also founded Women in Action and the Women in Action Foundation in 1984, and the Mary Granger Sculpture Garden in downtown Vancouver in 1994.
“We have a number of philanthropists in this community, but we have very few people that have the kind of determination and optimism that Mary had to create organizations or programs to respond to needs,” Melching said.
Granger was born in Portland in 1932 to Robert and Kathryn Petersen. She grew up in Seaside, Ore., and Vancouver, where she graduated from Vancouver High School in 1950. She went on to attend Oregon State University, where she met her future husband, Richard Granger Sr., on a blind date.
In 1980, Gov. John Spellman called on Mary Granger to serve as the governor’s representative to Southwest Washington. After four years in the position, her desire to continuing serving her community prompted her to launch her own philanthropic work.
Granger received numerous awards for her work, including Clark County First Citizen in 1987, YWCA Woman of Achievement in 1989, Southwest Washington Health District Health Recognition Award in 1990, Lewis & Clark College’s Aubrey Watzek Award in 2001, and was inducted into the Vancouver Rotary Hall of Fame.
Granger leaves her husband, four children and nine grandchildren. She was preceded in death by a son, Dick Granger Jr., who died from pancreatic cancer in August.
A statement from Granger’s family said her children and grandchildren will remember the character, honor and integrity she brought to her community service — traits those in the community will surely never forget.
“There’s just no doubt that Southwest Washington is a far better place to live and work and play thanks to Mary Granger,” Melching said.
Marissa Harshman: 360-735-4546 or marissa.harshman@columbian.com.
