According to an old newspaper article about Dr. Mary, a sailor in Chester, PA was sick, and the chief of police asked the physician to treat him. Undaunted, Dr. Mary climbed a rope ladder, and crew members lowered her into a hole in the ship. She chuckled later about it being her first “boat call.”

Dr. Mary learned her work ethic through her parents; her grandfather, Isaac A. Stewart, was a DeLand judge, her mother was the first woman in Florida to earn a law degree, and in 1926, her father helped found a bank in DeLand that is still operating today. Dr. Mary’s mother was her inspiration for going to medical school; she had heard her mother talk about it, and never considered any other career option. In medical school, Dr. Mary was further encouraged by her professors, one of whom remarked that he would rather have women as students, because they seemed to care more.

After relocating her practice to DeLand in 1960, Dr. Mary established her legacy of providing high-quality medical care to those who were least able to afford it. She tempered her medicine with a hefty dose of witty bedside manner, endearing her to all her patients. She was OK with being an “old-fashioned” doctor, said her daughter, Mary Parker Sizemore.

From her early days as a medical student, when she shared some watermelon with a prospective father as they waited for a baby to be born, to her later years as she worked out of a house that her grandfather had built, Dr. Mary put her faith and trust into people, not insurance conglomerates and new-fangled technology.

Dr. Mary cared little for worldly things, said Mary Sizemore. She owned a motel in DeLand, where patients who couldn’t afford hospital care were allowed to stay for free. There, she would take care of them until they got better. Other times, she would not hesitate to visit one of her patients after hours, bringing them whatever medicine or treatment they needed – often, for free.

At Florida Hospital Fish Memorial, we are grateful to Dr. Mary for her many years of service to our community. Her legacy of compassion for her patients, and dedication to her profession will be forever etched upon the community of West Volusia.