Mary D. Iatridis passed away on July 25, 2015 at her West Newton, MA home of 48 years. She is survived by her husband, Dimitri, her four children, Anna, Tanya, Stavros, and Maki, her 13 grandchildren, Victoria, Minas, Yelena, Casey, Nick, Christina, Emma, Lia, Melina, Sophia, P.J., Dimitri, and Christo, and her sister, Titica Manolukas, who will all miss her dearly. Services will be held on August 19, 2015 [add details]. Mary was a vibrant, spirited woman with limitless energy and a mother and friend to all who knew her. She was an inspiring example of womanhood, motherhood, and professional integrity and talent, and her creativity, hospitality, and generosity, all dispensed with warmth, love and humor, were legendary to her family, friends, students, and colleagues. Born on September 1, 1928 to Asimakis and Antonia Xerocostas, she lived her early years in Pennsylvania and her formative years in Greece, including the occupation period of World War II, when she learned to dodge bullets on her way to the bakery. Returning to Pennsylvania after the war, she pursued her interest in the sciences and in 1949 earned a Bachelor of Science from Pennsylvania College of Women (now Chatham College, followed by a Master of Science in Chemistry from Carnegie Mellon University in 1951. In September 1954, she married Demetrius S. Iatridis, whom she deeply loved for over 60 years. They soon moved to Philadelphia, where their first two children were born, and then returned, to Athens, Greece where they had two more children. Mary's time in Greece with her young family was eye-opening, and in many ways these were the most defining years of her life. During that period she developed a keen interest in how children learn and develop, traveled extensively throughout the world and learned about other cultures, read and engaged with leaders and professionals in a variety of fields, and mastered the arts of cooking, entertaining, and dancing. This period served as an incubator for the passions that fueled Mary throughout her life. Mary and her family returned to the US in 1967 and settled in Newton, MA. Her home became a magnet for countless Greek undergraduate and graduate students studying in Boston who benefited from her warm hospitality and delicious meals, as well as her mentorship. In addition to managing the household and raising four children, she also earned a Masters Degree and a Doctorate in Early Childhood Education from Boston College. In the mid-1970's, Mary became a Professor of Early Childhood Education in Science at Wheelock College, where she continued to teach until her retirement in 2002. Mary was ahead of her time professionally, incorporating science in the early childhood education curriculum and sparking a lifelong love of learning in many of her students, both young and old. She developed progressive curricula developmentally appropriate for kindergarten classrooms that broadened and enriched the earlier objective-based curriculum used in the Boston Public Schools. Mary was also instrumental in establishing a children's museum, a first of its kind, in Athens, Greece with her former students, and she continued to consult with and advise the museum through the rest of her professional career. She became an expert in early childhood museum education and had numerous publications on teaching science to children. Mary consulted for the Greek Ministry of Education and developed curricula for early childhood education in Greece. She taught and trained dedicated teachers, led workshops and seminars, and consulted internationally, including in Singapore, Bermuda, and Greece, as well as in the US. One of her favorite training and consulting engagements was in Kalamata, Greece for a nonprofit daycare center serving poor and disadvantaged children. She brought suitcases full of books and exciting materials for the staff, observed and supervised classes, and made science and math come alive for teachers and students. Mary spent 50 blissful summers on her beloved island of Sifnos, where she enjoyed sitting on her veranda overlooking the Aegean Sea (her "favorite swimming pool"), swimming at isolated coves, sipping the occasional ouzo before an afternoon nap, and socializing with her family and many friends. Mary will be remembered by her family and friends as an extraordinarily generous, wise, creative, and loving woman who brought together the people she loved to celebrate life and each other through learning, stories, laughter, food, and dance. She lives in each person she touched and will never be forgotten. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Hellenic Children's Museum in Athens, Greece, where the Museum's Resource Center will be dedicated to the memory of Mary Iatridis. Please contact Zabel Mouratian zmouratian@gmail.com to make a gift.