Mary Christine Donovan of Keystone Heights, Florida, was a witty and hardworking woman who had something to teach us all. She was sweet, funny, well-educated, well-read, ironic, smart, tough, and irreverent. Born in Folkston, Georgia to Ada and Delmar Petty, she was raised from the age of four in northern Florida by her adoptive parents Hall and Eleanor Casterline. Mary was the mother of Teresa Outlaw of Cary, North Carolina, and for over 40 years the devoted wife of labor organizer and fellow painter and printmaker, Michael Donovan. Educated at the University of North Carolina, Asheville, Mary earned a BA in literature in 1975. Upon graduation, Mary moved with her daughter to Portland, Oregon where she worked for the Multnomah County Public Library and was instrumental in organizing the library workers into their first union in 1978. Mary earned her masters degree in library science at the University of Michigan (MLS) in 1982 then settled with Michael in Manhattan and Brooklyn, New York for the next 30 years. She worked for the libraries of Teachers College, Columbia, and Baruch College of the City University of New York, was a teacher for the Cornell University Labor and Industrial Relations School, and was both a teacher and counselor for the Harry Van Arsdale Labor School of the State University of New York, prior to becoming a union organizer and representative of Local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians. In her 20 year tenure with Local 802, Mary was the representative to the unions musicians in the Off-Broadway and Broadway theaters and New York City Hotel Musicians and later became the Assistant to the President upon the election of Tino Gagliardi (a musician Mary encouraged to run for office in the union). From an early age she developed a complex and sophisticated view of politics and the roles of working people. You would often find Mary on picket lines on behalf of striking musicians and along with other union members supporting work related issues such as enforcing labor laws, filing complaints of contract violations, and when necessary, picketing, striking, and otherwise trying to improve the employment conditions of all workers. She was unbowed. Although she always operated within the limits of the contract and the law, she was firm and insistent that her members be treated with respect and dignity and that their contracts be honored. Not all employers appreciated her efforts and she frequently had to negotiate hostility and resentment just to see members on their breaks. Mary and her husband Michael often painted her members in smokey, spotlit performances in a striking fauve expressionistic style. Some work they exhibited in Manhattan galleries, others were gifts to their subjects. When Mary and Michael retired to her home state in 2011, they lived on a north central Florida lake where they continued painting and exhibiting their work. In addition to their personal cats, they took care of hundreds of feral cats that occupied their rural property. Mary rescued, neutered, vaccinated and fed all of them. They stuck around, curled and nesting in the Spanish moss of massive oak trees, while she sat below, reading and sketching. The pride of Mary's life, besides her husband, daughter, and son-in-law Joe Miller, were her handsome and accomplished grandchildren Daniel, Maggie and Emily Miller of Cary, North Carolina. She was much loved and will be missed by many friends and family around the country including Cary, NC; Buffalo, NY; Portland, OR; New York, NY; Pennsylvania; Florida; California; Connecticut, and Colorado - many of whom visited Mary in New York and Florida and never forgot it. She was a pistol with a keen sense of justice, a ready laugh, a profound calling, and many, many people are far-the-better for it.Mary is preceded in death by her parents Delmar and Ada (nee Nettles) Petty, brothers and sisters Petty, parents Hall and Eleanor Casterline, husband Joseph Outlaw, and mother and father-in-law Virginia and Richard Donovan. A Celebration in Mary's honor will be held on Thursday, June 8, 2023, at 11 AM at the Keystone Heights Chapel of the Jones Gallagher Funeral Homes, 340 E. Walker Dr., Keystone Heights, Florida 32656. In lieu of flowers, donations in Marys memory may be made to: https://www.claycountygov.com/community/animal-services/get-involved/donate (Clay County Animal Shelters TNVR (Trap, Neuter, Vaccinate, and Release) Program). A Celebration of Life Thursday, June 8, 2023 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Jones - Gallagher Funeral Home - Keystone Heights 340 East Walker Drive Keystone Heights FL 32656 US (352) 473-3176 Funeral Home Jones - Gallagher Funeral Home - Keystone Heights 340 East Walker Drive Keystone Heights FL - 32656 US (352) 473-3176