Mary Elizabeth Stacy

Mary Gregory Stacy passed away on August 15, 2026 due to natural causes at the age of ninety-seven years. She was born on March 10, 1929 in Washington D.C. and raised in the District of Columbia, a true Washington native. Her father, John Joseph Gregory, originally from Rhode Island, came to Washington with his younger brother Edwin to attend Georgetown University. He was a graduate of Georgetown Law School and worked in the U.S. Post Office. Mary enjoyed recounting childhood memories of watching Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s inaugural parades from the windows of the Old Post Office Building on Pennsylvania Avenue. Her mother, Theresa Fabiny Gregory, came to Washington D.C. with her older sister Elizabeth from Indiana, both answering the call to aid the government at the end of World War One. Mary attended the Academy of the Holy Names high school in Silver Spring, MD and graduated from Trinity College (now University) in 1950. For a brief period of time following graduation, she was employed as a secretary in the newly-formed CIA. As fate would have it, she then met a handsome young naval aviator and U.S. Naval Academy graduate from Marietta, Ohio (Edward F. Stacy, “Jack”) on a semi-blind date (blind to her, though her future husband had picked her from a photo in her college yearbook). On that first date they went with mutual friends to see the Washington Senators play a double-header at Griffith Stadium (they stayed for both games, causing Mary’s college friend to remark “You must really like that guy – I know you don’t care for baseball that much!”). They were married on February 3, 1951 at St. Gabriel’s Church in Washington D.C. Together they embarked on a long naval career that took them to multiple postings up and down the eastern seaboard (Jacksonville, Norfolk, Annapolis and Washington D.C.) as well as memorable tours in Japan and Hawaii. Like all navy spouses, Mary capably managed the household and oversaw numerous relocations during Jack’s extended deployments. All the while, raising a growing family of four children with love and devotion.

Following Jack’s retirement from the Navy in the late 1960’s, they established residency in the Maryland suburbs of Washington D.C., close to extended family and friends, including numerous grandchildren and a growing number of great-grandchildren. Mary was a long-time member of the Our Lady of Good Counsel high school mother’s club and worked part-time at Mason’s Flowers in Wheaton, MD. Mary was an accomplished pianist with music lessons a must for all the children in the household. Mary was an avid duckpin bowler, playing in a Wednesday morning social league for many years. Mary also loved to travel with her husband and they took full advantage of Military Airlift “Space-A” for military retirees; traveling around the globe on numerous trips. Most recently, Jack and Mary were long-time residents of a retirement community (Buckingham’s Choice) near Frederick, MD.

Mary was preceded in death by her beloved husband Jack, parents John and Theresa, brother John, her cherished aunt Elizabeth Fabiny and oldest son John “Greg”. She is survived by children Karen Merhige Stacy (Greg), David (Amy) and Timothy (Lisa), daughter-in-law Jeanne Stacy, and sister-in-law Shirley Gregory. She was blessed with nine grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren.

Following private funeral services, she will be inurned with her husband Jack at the U.S. Naval Academy Columbarium overlooking the Severn River in Annapolis, Maryland.