‘Mary has left a legacy of love and laughter’: A tribute to the life of Mary Power (1944 – 2025)
A tribute to the life of Mary Power (1944 – 2025) Our lovely Mary left us on January 25, 2025. We are all the richer, and kinder, for knowing her. A devoted wife, mother, sister, friend and caregiver, Mary has left a legacy of love and laughter.
Mary's love for her family was unwavering. She shared a special bond with her husband, Billy, and together, they made a life filled with love, laughter, and colourful moments. As sister to Jill, Joan and the late Betty, Pauline and Terry, Mary was the third-born; a cute little sister and wise older one too.
A well-behaved teenager (unlike her siblings), Mary met Billy at Borderlands on New Year's Eve. They married in 1968, and the very same day they moved to London, where they would live in or near for the next 52 years and where they raised their adored son, Benjamin. Mary and Billy were still dancing in the living room just a couple of weeks before she left us.
Mary spent her life helping others, first as a student nurse at Altnagelvin and later as a midwife at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, and St Thomas’s Hospital, London. Through a lifelong commitment to nursing, and later as a Health Visitor in Chelmsford, Mary found joy in connecting with people.
Mary’s roots were always in Derry. When she returned in April 2017 and moved to Eglinton, she felt at home, and her warm nature meant she quickly became a beloved figure in the village. Eglinton Community Hall was a daily haunt, and she loved taking their Chat Train from Derry to Coleraine.
Mary’s faith was a central part of her life. It gave her life, helping to sustain her throughout the challenges that life threw at her. She was a constant presence at St Eugene’s where she would invoke the Lord’s name – and not in a good way - if you dared to sit in her seat.
Mary’s love of a good adventure and her joy in her faith community would take her to places like Knock and White Oaks. En route, she would debate which of the priests was her favourite (she couldn’t possibly choose; they all were!).
Mary had a passion for colourful fashion and lived life with vibrancy. Her sense of humour, and her laugh, were infectious. Despite her apparent innocence, she somehow always knew what the punchlines meant.
Mary’s life was marked by her devotion to her family, patients, friends and to her faith. She was a good friend to everyone she met and will be deeply missed by all those who had the privilege of knowing her.