Mary Doubleday

Mary Elizabeth (O'Hara) Doubleday of McCandless, PA, died Jan. 3, 2026 at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh. She was born on Dec. 25, 1952 in New York City, to parents Ethel Margaret (Eckert) and John Gerard O'Hara. Mary grew up, first in NYC, then on the Purchase, NY campus of Manhattanville College, where her father was a professor of psychology, and finally in Mahopac, Putnam County, NY, where she graduated from Mahopac High School. Mary was a National Merit Scholar who studied music and mathematics, her twin passions, at Wells College in Aurora, NY, where she received a BA in 1974. She later completed course work for a PhD in Music History at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. She met her future husband Dennis Doubleday in 1980, when both were working at the Northwestern Library. They were married in 1982. Switching gears, Mary earned a Master's degree in the Teaching of Mathematics in 1986, after beginning studies at the University of Illinois Chicago Campus in 1983 and completing her course work at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. She taught mathematics at Connelly School of the Holy Child in Potomac, MD from 1984 to 1986. She took a break from professional life in 1986 to raise her daughter Julia (b. 1986 in Silver Spring, MD) and son Kevin (b. 1989 in Pittsburgh). Once they entered school in 1994, she resumed teaching mathematics at DeKalb College in Decatur, GA, then LaRoche College in McCandless. Finally, she taught for 14 years at Carlow College in Pittsburgh. She retired from teaching in 2016. Mary was a true polymath, a voracious reader who knew about many things. Not content to abandon music, her other love, she was the Choir and Music Director at the Unitarian Universalist Church of the North Hills for 24 years. She played piano, flute, guitar, and sang beautifully. After her retirement from teaching, she took up watercolor painting and became amazingly good at that as well. It seemed that there was nothing she couldn't do well. She is survived by husband Dennis, children Julia Doubleday of Washington, DC and Kevin Doubleday of Rochester, NY, brothers John O'Hara of Hartford, CT and Robert O'Hara (wife Ann) of Raleigh, NC, sisters Margaret O'Hara Best (husband Louis) of Cheshire, CT and Jane Auer (husband Chris) of Savannah, GA, and numerous beloved nieces and nephews. A public visitation will be held at Thomas Smith Funeral Home in Blawnox, PA, on Wednesday, January 7, 2026 from 2 to 4 p.m. A Memorial Service celebrating her life will be held at the UU Church of the North Hills on Saturday, January 24, 2026 at 2 p.m. Memorial contributions in lieu of flowers should go to Doctors Without Borders (https://give.doctorswithoutborders.org/).

Mary Doubleday

December 25, 1952 - January 3, 2026