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Obituary for Mary Clare Fox
Mary, age 46 of Monument, Colorado.
Mary Claire Fox was born to Jan and Jeanne Dennis on August 12, 1972, in Washington D.C. She entered the world on the 50th birthday of her maternal grandmother, Mary Nelle Schaap, for whom she is named. From a very early age, she loved babies and baby dolls; in a letter written as an adult, she expressed how much she "loved my younger brothers and sisters and held them and cared for them when they were babies".
Mary attended high school at Escuela Caribe school in the Dominican Republic, where she earned high commendation, though endured much suffering. After EC, she attended Covenant College and the University of Illinois Chicago where she studied literature, ending a few credit hours short of graduation. Teachers throughout her life commented on her piercing insight into literature and humanities and friends from college share that she was greatly loved for her kindness, humor, and unique and enigmatic spirit. Mary was fluent in Spanish, traveled solo in S. America and Spain and loved the cultures and peoples of S. America and Mexico as well as the American Indians. In Colorado, Mary met Tony Fox, and they married in October, 2002. The next year Alexandra was born, and 2 years later, Grace. Throughout her life, she loved sacred music, art, and the history of the church and its saints which led her to profess her faith in the Catholic Church. Above all, Mary loved being a mother and considered the time when her girls were babies and growing up as the happiest time in her life. She loved beauty and wherever she lived, her flourishes of classical art, fine textiles, books, and collected items from around the globe transformed a bare space into a beautiful home. Family gatherings, the seasons, and holidays (especially Christmas), were very important to her and she loved making others feel special on these occasions. At her girls’ birthdays, she insisted on elaborate decorations and was known to give a quite the abundance of presents at birthdays and Christmas. Mary understood suffering and was always ready to listen with compassion to the struggles of others. She was especially tender and caring to her brother, Christopher, who has autism, as well as other special needs children and adults whom she worked with at different points in her life. Her compassionate spirit is embodied by a quote by CH Spurgeon: "Jesus is touched, not with a feeling of your strength, but of your infirmity. Down here, poor, feeble nothings affect the heart of their great High Priest on high, who is crowned with glory and honor. As the mother feels with the weakness of her babe, so does Jesus feel with the poorest, saddest, and weakest of his chosen." To have seen her in the flesh was to glimpse beauty personified. Even as she slipped deeper into suffering she did not know how to overcome, there was a beauty to her spirit that always persisted. This beauty lives on in her two girls, Alexandra and Grace, whom she loved dearly and who are her greatest joy.
Despite her struggles, Mary fought hard in this life. Her father pictured her as a warrior, who, though she fell and was fatally wounded in battle, still fought valiantly. As one who stood by her, I can say in truth "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." Those who went into the darkness with Mary know with certainty that she was lifted out of her bodily suffering by the pierced hands of Jesus and that she suffers no more. Glory, Glory, Hallelujah.
