A Woman for All Seasons

Lifelong educator Mary Hoar loved to teach in summer school. She remembers one boy who said he had learning disabilities and couldn’t write. Unlike the regular school year, she wasn’t bound by a curriculum and could take a fairly innovative approach to teaching her students. “I could really fly and just play with topics,” she said. She asked the boy to write a composition about his grandparents. She told him, “I know you and I know you’re very smart. I know you can do it.”

The boy ran off beaming and soon delivered a story that in Mary’s estimation was pretty good. Turns out he loved to type on the computer and that made it easier for him to write. Come September he was doing much better in class. A few months into the new school year his teacher assigned him to write about someone who had inspired him. The teacher came to Mary to show her the essay the boy had written. He wrote that Mary Hoar inspired him because she was the first person who had told him he was smart; she was the first person who had believed in him.

Believing in that boy took him a long way and literally turned around his life. He still had learning challenges but he kept plugging away and did very well in high school, went to college, and later became a librarian.

Mary is modest when admitting that she probably told hundreds of kids that they were smart, so it’s amazing to learn of the outcomes—believing in someone literally does change lives for the better.

She had always taught in downtown Yonkers, around Ashburton Avenue, a place that delivers tough kids from low income homes, the projects, or worse. Despite the obstacles her students faced, many did well in school and in life. Today they run companies, or they might be accomplished artists. She has had students who have told her how much they loved coming to her classes. They might be having a terrible time at home, living in families beset with dysfunction and despair, but Mary’s classes gave them structure and stability. It gave them something to look forward to every day, and reason to hope.

In many cases she did the same thing for her students’ parents, too. Her diverse teaching experience ranged from early childhood to secondary school, and she also taught adults. Her work with adults was both formal and, sometimes, it was spontaneous, just the luck of the draw. One year she had three parents who came to have lunch with her every Friday. They felt very disconnected from the community. Lunch with Mary gave them a chance to bond and to feel supported.

Mary wrote the manual for the New York State Program Career Achieve. The program offered academics: language arts and math, and online training for career and computer skills. The women who joined the program were very determined to improve themselves and had to commit to doing twelve hours of work at home. Many of the women had not completed high school and were on public assistance. They were given a computer and internet service to complete coursework at home. At the successful completion of the work, they were allowed to keep their computers. All of the women soon qualified for jobs and were able to get off public assistance.

Mary is quick to point out that the essence of true community building is working with both children and their parents. “When kids see their parents valuing education, it helps kids overcome some of their own obstacles.”

Public service is actively caring for a community. Toward this end, Mary Hoar is a tireless public servant who has devoted her life to supporting her community. Her accomplishments are manifold. A dizzying array of public and private projects makes one wonder how she gets all of these things done. For that there is no definitive answer except to say she keeps her ear to the ground and knows more about the inner workings of Yonkers than most seasoned politicians. And it’s important to note that she has successfully worked with politicians on both sides of the aisle.

For almost thirty years, Mary was an active member of the Yonkers Federation of Teachers, serving as Teacher Building Representative in both school and union committees. History has always been a favorite topic for her to pursue. She attributes a strong knowledge of history as the essential building block for achieving wisdom and for giving one the ability to act with integrity. “If we don’t learn from our history, we are destined to make the same mistakes,” she says, echoing the sentiment aptly expressed by both George Santayana and Winston Churchill.

Having served as President of the Yonkers Historical Society (1999-2004) and (2008-2015, she is currently the Society’s President Emerita. Mary’s passion for history led her to serve on the City of Yonkers Landmarks Preservation Board. She is also a weekly columnist for the Yonkers Rising newspaper, writing about Yonkers’ historic events of the past. She recently raised money for the headstone of John Edward Bruce who had lain in an unmarked grave despite his having been the founder of the Negro Historical Research Society and a highly respected journalist who had written for top-tier press.

Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano appointed Mary to be the first woman Yonkers Historian in 2022. And its largely due to her efforts that Yonkers was chosen as New York State’s World War II American Heritage City. As Yonkers Historian, she wants to let the world know of the city’s many accomplishments.

Take World War II, “Everything that was done by the people of Yonkers was part of the war effort to bring our American boys back home. The Yonkers city pier was used to build and repair ships as part of the war effort. All of the cable for Operation PLUTO to support Operation Overlord was created at the Habirshaw Cable & Wire Corp in Yonkers. That cable connected England to parts of Germany and France. Ninety-six percent of the tubing, which carried fuel to our troops, was put together in Yonkers. One million gallons of fuel were pumped through those lines.”

Mary chuckles when she mentions that during World War II the German ships were cruising the English Channel, looking for tankers carrying fuel to the Allies, never once realizing that there were pipelines flowing under the sea. Historians credit this amazing feat as a deciding factor that allowed the Allies to win during the D-Day Invasion of Normandy. 

When she was appointed as Yonkers Historian, she promised to uncover forgotten Yonkers history. Her weekly column in Yonkers Rising, as well as her contributions to other publications, are reminders of what Yonkers stands for and of its unique place in the world. “There’s so much about Yonkers that we just don't know about. People just forgot. But all the things that came before us made Yonkers what it is today and also made us who we are.”

Stoic and self-effacing yet gushing with civic pride, Mary doesn’t take credit for her lifetime foray into public service. One-hundred-percent Irish and a fourth-generation Yonkersite, she was brought up by parents who believed that people have to work together to uplift and support other people. “From the time I was little, my Dad told me I could be anything I wanted or do anything I wanted.”

It wasn’t what her father said about public service; she learned by watching him in action. During the Depression, he worked for a local utility, Yonkers Lighting, which was the forerunner of Con Edison. One day the company let the workers know that they were going to have to lay off people, and of course, the newest employees would lose their jobs. Mary’s father and a few of his friends realized that if all of the workers worked a half a day less, then no one would have to be fired.

“The company bought into it and actually bragged about it. They were very proud that their workers were so loyal to each other, and to the company, and that they were willing to make a small sacrifice.”

A few years later, the same group of guys joined together to form a union. The group was concerned that the company would not be nearly as supportive as they were when they were all giving up a half-a-day of work. So, they created the document forming the union, and all of the officers signed in a circle. No one was identified as the union president; they were all officers. Eventually the company figured who the officers were and offered them all a promotion, which would have killed the union. Mary’s father didn’t take the promotion.

“I know what public service is,” Mary said. “Public service came to me through my family and going to St. Dennis School where the Sisters of Charity promoted the idea of helping others because that’s why God put us on this earth. It was a family tradition to do stuff and to work together, so I credit my family the most of all.”

Defining Mary Hoar as an educator is a misnomer in the narrow sense of the word because the focus of her life has always been about, and still is about, public service. It is her commitment to public service that changes lives for the better.

If you ask her why she cares about the Yonkers, she will tell you it is because she wouldn’t consider living anywhere else in the world. The demands of her pursuits are ever-evolving. She walks the extra mile and in the process builds her own legacy by caring for the people, places and projects that mean everything to Yonkers and the world beyond.

For a complete list of projects, see her official bio below, but know this: her handiwork is both visible and invisible. There are things she has accomplished from behind the scenes to benefit the community that will never garner an award or a mention. These are the things that get done miraculously, but no one knows for sure how it happened.

Official Bio for Mary Hoar

A fourth generation Yonkers resident, Mary Hoar has been actively involved in the community since the age of sixteen when she served on then Mayor John E. Flynn’s Youth Advisory Committee while in high school.

Mary graduated from Cornell University and continued her studies at Fordham University and Iona College.  Mary began her career as a kindergarten teacher, eventually becoming a teacher for the Gifted and Talented in Yonkers.  Computer technology became a primary component in her teaching, and, after early retirement, she switched to teaching computers to adults.  She also was the EPIC Coordinator of Yonkers Even Start, a program that provided family education to parents.  Mary taught Microsoft Office courses at Pathways to Success, the Adult Education Center of Yonkers Public Schools, Aisling Irish Community Center and Westchester Community College. 

Since 2010 Mary has been the head New York State Department of Adult Education Trainer for the SMART Adult Education Program. In 2014 Mary was named the Vive School Adult Education Teacher of the Year.

Mary was an active member of the Yonkers Federation of Teachers, serving as Teacher Building Representative, involved in both school and union committees for almost thirty years.

Mary continued her career of community service as a Yonkers Jay-N-Cee, serving as President, Secretary and Treasurer.  She received local and state awards for community service projects and programs she initiated for the Jay-N-Cees. 

In 1977 she received one of the state division’s highest honors, the Distinguished Service Award.  Her efforts for the Jay-N-Cees and Yonkers earned her the Key to the City of Yonkers.  At the same time, she became active in her alumni group, the Cornell Women’s Club of Westchester, serving as Secretary, Event Chairperson and on its Steering Committee.

Her service to the Yonkers Red Cross soon followed in 1975, and she was Branch Chairman and Vice Chairman. She chaired the Yonkers Red Cross Centennial, Youth Services and Competition Committees.  She received several Chapter service awards, including the prestigious Janet Hopkins Memorial Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service in 1987.

She became involved with the Westchester March of Dimes with the very first Yonkers Walkathon, and worked on its Coordinating Committee each year the event was held here in Yonkers.  She served on the Executive Board of the Northern Metro Chapter of the March of Dimes for 17 years, acting as Chair of the Reading Olympics and serving on the Public Affairs, Golden Gala and Tennis Tournament Committees.  For this service, the March of Dimes presented her several awards, including the 1987 Outstanding Volunteer Service Award.

Currently serving as President of the Untermyer Performing Arts Council, Mary was a charter member of its board in 1976, serving as its first treasurer.  She chaired several committees and initiated the O’Connor Performing Arts Scholarship in memory of the late arts activist Eileen O’Connor.  She was a regular contributor to its newsletter, writing not only on the history of Untermyer Park, but also the history of the people who lived on the estate.  Her efforts were recognized with the UPAC Gryphon Service Award in 2002.

Mary first joined the Mayor’s Community Relations Committee in 1975 and served as Chair of several committees. She was Advisor to the Mayor’s Youth Advisory Committee, the very same group she belonged to while in high school. Under her leadership, this committee greatly expanded its activities, assisting many not-for-profit organizations in activities as varied as working on walkathons for Cerebral Palsy and the March of Dimes to selling daffodils for the American Cancer Society to writing a handbook for teens looking for summer employment. During her time as Executive Chairperson, MCRC instituted the Salute to Yonkers Business and Industry, the Miss Yonkers Pageant, and the Salute to Yonkers Schools and Teachers. Mary was an active member on the Yonkers celebrations of the American and New York State Bicentennials coordinated by the MCRC.

Mary joined the board of the Family Service Society of Yonkers in 1978, and has served in several offices, including President.  She chaired several committees, and remains active on this board, currently serving as its Secretary.

President Emerita of the Yonkers Historical Society, serving as President from 1999-2004 and 2008-2015, Mary has been on its board since 1988 and was a volunteer for several years earlier.  She chaired the Membership and the Archives and Library Committees, and both created and chaired the Education Committee that awards the Patricia Mangold Scholarships and US History Awards to Yonkers high school students.  She wrote and edited their quarterly newsletter, The Yonkers Historian, for several years and supervised all activities and programs of the organization. 

In 2004, the Society awarded her the Key to History, their highest award, in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the society.

Mary’s love for history led her to accept an appointment on the City of Yonkers Landmarks Preservation Board; she recently was reappointed for a second term.  Mary is a weekly columnist for the Yonkers Rising newspaper, writing on Yonkers’ historic events of the past.

In 2022, Mayor Spano appointed Mary to be the first woman Yonkers Historian; she recently conceived and chairs Revolutionary Yonkers 250.  She successfully wrote the application for Yonkers to be designated as New York State’s World War II American Heritage City.  She is working with Yonkers’ officials to educate citizens of all ages to celebrate our city’s extraordinary Homefront cohesiveness and efforts to “bring our boys home.”

Besides history, Mary’s other avocation is genealogy, and has been a member and officer of the Westchester County Genealogy Society for many years.  She served as President for 4 years, Executive Vice President, and Vice President of Programs.  Her love for genealogy also led to her interest in her Irish heritage; she currently is a board member of the American Irish Association of Westchester and serves as its Sergeant at Arms, a member of Comhaltas Ceolteoiri Eireann and the Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians (Division 19).

She is a Board Member of Aquehung Women’s Democratic Club.

Mary has been involved with many other community activities over the years, including the Yonkers Marathon Committee, Irish History Round Table, Fermi Scholarship Breakfast Committee and the Yonkers Jaycees. 

She has received many official proclamations and certificates for her volunteer service from local and state officials, included being named one of Yonkers 2014 Women of Distinction, and In 2016, Mary was named to the Westchester County Senior Hall of Fame.  She was recognized by then Assemblymember Shelley Mayer as an outstanding Yonkers woman in the Assemblymember’s 2018 Women’s History Month Celebration.  In 2023, she was named the Westchester Federation of Women’s Clubs Woman of the Year.

She has been listed in Who’s Who of America, Who’s Who of American Women and Who’s Who of the World.