STOLZI: Memory Eternal!

We first met in Franklin, Tennessee in 1993. Mary and her husband, Conrad, were fellow Converts to Orthodoxy from the Episcopal Church. We once had lunch at an Italian restaurant and Conrad told us that he knew of two St Conrads. His favorite St Conrad story involved a spider. It seems that a spider was observed slinking down a thread from the ceiling and went into this Conrad’s drink. Conrad drank it — and lived! Everyone back then knew that you couldn’t swallow a spider and live! Therefore, he was a Saint. Conrad Stolzenbach had no idea if that saint was Orthodox, but he liked the story.

At the Missions and Evangelism Conference, fall of ’93, there were so many ex-Episcopalians at the Antiochian Village that we formed a group called the “Canterbury Club.” I don’t recall all the players, but Mary and Conrad were ring leaders. We all had our own Anglican War Stories and we were thrilled to be Orthodox.

Mary had been patiently taking care of Conrad lately: Alzheimer’s. She’d had some serious health scares of her own, only to receive better news. As Terry Mattingly mentions, it was most likely a fatal fall, a little over a week ago, that ended her life. Her funeral is today.
May the Lord rest her soul and comfort the family.

Mary and I had many arguments over the years. These were always ill matched because Mary’s intellect was far superior — with a biting wit. Some of these disagreements happened on various e-lists. We would often swap friendly private posts to each other while carrying on “badly” for public consumption. When Mary sided with you, you felt justified. When she was on the “other side,” well, you felt differently. And, I must admit, sometimes she would send me emails — or questions — that helped me to realize just how non-intellectual (aka dumb) I really am. But, like a good school teacher, you never doubted that she loved you.

I last saw Mary in the fall of 2003 when she, Conrad, and one of their sons stopped by on their way home from visiting her mother in the Carolinas. Back before the popularity of email, she and I used to correspond with snail-mail. But, like most, I knew her best “electronically.” She was omnipresent on the internet. She was a frequent Commenter on this blog — her last comments here were on this story, July 23rd, shortly before her fall.

I am stunned and saddened by her sudden passing. I cannot believe that there will be no more “Stolzi” on the internet. We’re all the worse for it. I can only with sorrow imagine the void now felt in her beloved parish, St Ignatius Antiochian Orthodox Church, Franklin, Tennessee.

At Stolzi’s request, the family has requested donations to the Alzheimer’s Association, in honor of Conrad Stolzenbach and his care giver, Mary.

May her memory be eternal!