Mary, aka Mary Barich Hendrickson, was a star volleyball player at Interlake, and she later went on to play for Bellevue Community College, the University of Washington, and The United States Volleyball Association (USVBA). She competed in the Co-Ed Nationals and eventually won a Women’s Regional Division A Championship. She even coached volleyball briefly at Interlake. Her love of the sport, competitive spirit, athleticism, leadership, commitment to her teammates, and sheer joy of the game opened up a new world of friends that soon spread to kayaking and other outdoor activities.
It was also through volleyball where she would meet her soul mate, George. Two peas in a pod, sharing the best of times together on the court, in the parks, on the water; but also weathering the worst, as tragedy claimed the lives of many in their circle of friends, through the AIDS epidemic or tragic accidents in the outdoors.
In the late 2000s Mary was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. Yet befitting her competitive nature, she battled it for nearly fourteen years. With George always at her side, they made the most of living with a terrible situation. Mary finally passed away in Woodinville on Friday, March 4th, 2022, using Washington State’s Death with Dignity law to end her own life. Faced with losing all voluntary movement in the final stages of brain cancer, Mary made the courageous decision to spend her final days with family and friends before saying her final farewell to George. She died as she lived, in control and with the people she loved, never giving in to a disease that could have defined her.
Her obituary can be found here.
