Mary Casey Finan

Mary Finan passed away Thursday, May 24 2012 after a brave battle with cardiac and pulmonary illness. Mary was the oldest of four children born to Irish immigrants. She was raised in Burbank, CA and attended Catholic schools. She entered religious life after high school, joining the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Mary lived and worked in religious community for over two decades. During that time, she taught elementary school and earned her B.A. in Music from Mount St. Mary's College in Los Angeles, and an M.A. in Religious Studies from Manhattan College in New York, NY. In the early 70s she transitioned into secular life. She first developed a career in business, making her mark as an executive at the First National Bank of Chicago. Later she managed projects for pharmaceutical and defense firms as a member of the Diamond Consulting Group. In the mid-80s, Mary Therese Casey became Mary Finan when she married Lawrence Finan, a classmate of hers at St. Robert Bellarmine High School. They rediscovered each other at a high school reunion. Their union ended with his death in the early 90s. In 1980, Mary was awarded her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Chicago, where she was a mentor and colleague of Professor John ('Jack') Glidewell. After producing various academic publications and presentations, she moved from the business of business to the academic world of teaching and research. In 1998, she was appointed Associate Professor in the Department of Business Administration at Whittier College, Whittier, CA. She taught there for a dozen years and then served Whittier as Faculty Master in Residence, Johnson House, where she directed academic programs for faculty and students. In retirement, Mary Finan took up the harp and played for the seriously ill in homes and hospices. She also joined the BVM Associates, a cohort group of women and men who live independently and maintain a mutual relationship with vowed members of the BVM Community. In 2009 Mary published Lydia, a novel that centers on the outer and inner life of the first European convert to Christianity, the female friend of the apostle Paul. The narrative displays Mary's ability to research and render the warp and woof of the people of the Way, the group of first Christians who joined in communal efforts to embrace and understand the new Kingdom of Jesus the Nazarene. Mary Finan lived a life energized by an acute mind, an adventurous spirit, and a loving heart. She was sister and Sister, wife and widow, scholar and spiritual seeker. She is survived by her brothers, John Casey of Chino, CA and Michael Casey of Wheaton, IL. She is remembered with respect and deep affection by a Casey clan of relatives from three generations and by her stepchildren from the Finan family. Services scheduled: A visitation and viewing will take place on Thursday, May 31, 2012 from 4-8pm at White Emerson Mortuary Chapel, 13304 E Philadelphia Street, Whittier California. A Mass for Christian Burial will be celebrated at the Church of the Beatitudes of our Lord, 13013 S. Santa Gertrudes Avenue, La Mirada, California on Friday, June 1, 2012 at 10:30am. Burial will follow the funeral service at Bellevue Cemetery, 1240 West 'G,' St., Ontario, California.