TITLE:  Mary Hagerty

SOURCE:  The Post and Courier, July 10, 2001

SUBMITTED BY:  The Post and Courier

FORMATTED BY:  Kim Grissom, July 2001

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HAGERTY, Mary
Mary Louise Leffelman Hagerty, known as "Miss Mary, " a Lowcountry 
legend and dancing warrior queen, died peacefully in her sleep at her
Charleston home, surrounded by family, after succumbing to a series of 
strokes. She was born on December 20, 1927, to the late Louise J. 
Leffelman, a decorated World War I veteran and conservation forester, 
and Pauline L. Leffelman, a World War I nurse. The family lived in 
Statesburg, South Carolina. Intellectually precocious and inquisitive, 
Mrs. Hagerty was a lover of ideas, an inventor, and a gifted natural 
teacher. Equally, she was spirited and adventuresome, and earned her 
pilot's license by the age of seventeen. Mrs. Hagerty attended Mount 
St. Agnes Junior College in Baltimore, Maryland, and graduated from 
Duke University with a degree in Education in 1950. Shortly after her 
marriage to Dr. Robert F. Hagerty, the couple moved to Charleston where
Mrs. Hagerty became involved with myriad organizations interest and 
creative pursuits. Mrs. Hagerty formerly served on the Boards of the 
Charleston Symphony Orchestra and the Garden Club of Charleston. She 
was a past President of the Charleston County Medical Association 
Auxiliary. For two years she served as President of the Gibbes Art 
Gallery Auxiliary, formerly the Carolina Art Association, which she 
helped reorganize. She was a registered guide for the Historic 
Charleston Foundation Tours, and worked as a volunteer at the Cancer 
clinic. She was both a passionate reader and a dedicated teacher of 
reading who favored phonics and the classical McGuffey Readers as 
teaching tools. In addition to teaching remedial reading at Courtenay 
Elementary School and Jenkins Orphanage, she taught countless 
Charleston children to read, including many of her own grandchildren.
She worked as an aesthetic technician in her husband's Plastic and 
Reconstructive Surgery practice, utilizing her knowledge of moulage 
technique and facial prosthetics, acquired at the University of 
Maryland under the tutelage of Carl Dame Clark. She was also an 
astrologist and herbalist with an abiding interest in alternative 
medicine and gender determination of infants. Along with her husband, 
she is known as the designer and builder of Round Point Farms, (now 
The Point), the family compound on the western end of Sullivan's 
Island, where she ran a successful horticultural business. She grew 
geraniums professionally in greenhouses, and invented and patented one 
of the first self-watering reservoir systems for indoor plants, Wick-It
Easy Care. A talented landscaper, she also designed and installed a 
number of Charleston gardens. Mrs. Hagerty is survived by her husband 
of 52 years and five children: Dr. Richard C. Hagerty and wife, Barbara
G.S. Hagerty, of Charleston; John B. Hagerty and wife, Susan Willingham
Simons of Charleston; Ann Hagerty Boyce and husband, John C.G. Boyce, 
Jr., of Butler, Maryland; Thomas G. Hagerty and wife, Jane Harris Aiken
, of St. Louis, Missouri; and Henry F. Hagerty of New York City. She is
also survived by eleven grandchildren and two sisters: her twin, Mrs. 
Gery Ballou of Columbia, SC., and Mrs. Francine Manion of Rock Hill, 
SC., and 16 nephews and nieces. Known for her vivacious spirit and 
generous nature, Mrs. Hagerty was beloved by her many friends and 
family. For her special character, her devotion to family and community
, her many accomplishments and her love of life, she will be singularly
missed. The relatives and friends of Dr. and Mrs. Robert F. Hagerty 
and family are invited to attend the Memorial Mass for Mary L. Hagerty
at 11:00 AM., Wednesday, July 11, 2001 at St. Mary's Catholic Church. 
A Celebration of her life will take place at the family residence after
the Memorial Mass. The Rite of Committal will be Private. In lieu of 
flowers, memorials may be made to the Mary L. Hagerty Fund at the 
Community Foundation, 90 Mary St., Charleston, SC 29403. Arrangements 
by JAMES A. MCALISTER FUNERAL HOME, 1620 SAVANNAH HWY, 766-1365. 
(The Post and Courier July 10, 2001)

  HAGERTY, Mary
The relatives and friends of Dr. and Mrs. Robert Flemming Hagerty and 
family are invited to attend the Memorial Mass for Mary L. Hagerty at 
11 a.m., Wednesday, July 11, 2001, at St. Mary's Catholic Church. A 
Celebration of her life will take place at the family residence after 
the Memorial Mass. The Rite of Committal will be private. In lieu of 
flowers, memorials may be made to the Mary L. Hagerty Fund, The 
Community Foundation, 90 Mary St., Charleston, S.C. 29403. Arrangements
by JAMES A. MCALISTER FUNERAL HOME, 1620 SAVANNAH HWY. 766-1365.
(The Post and Courier July 11, 2001)
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