Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The recent death of Mary Hobdy sent a wave of shock throughout the Troy community. She was retired from the City of Troy and was continuing her dedication to the Johnson Center for the Arts and was eager to learn more about and appreciate the arts.

Andrea Pack, executive director of the  Johnson Center for the Arts, said Mary Hobdy had worked at the Johnson Center for 17 years, “and words fail, yet must be said.”

“Mary was known for her friendliness, her attention to detail, and her ability to set you straight,” Pack said, with a smile of remembrance. “At the Johnson Center, Mary welcomed visitors both with conversation and a clean building. She established relationships with all kinds of people and treated people equally. She had a special way of making you see things her way or not at all, while at the same time making you laugh at yourself or a situation. Mary would ask about your family, your kids, your troubles, then give unsolicited advice about what was wrong and what you could do about it, but always with a reminder that God is the ultimate answer to our troubles and cares.”

When Wiley White joined the Johnson Center for the Arts in 2004, she and Mary Hobdy quickly became more than co-workers. They became “dear friends.”

“Mary and I were together every day” White said. “She assisted in everything that needed to be done from framing, labeling, packaging –just everything that needed doing. And, she made sure that everything that needed doing was done and done right.”

What a shock it was to hear of Mary’s death,  said Jacquelin Floyd.

“The last time I saw Mary was at Mary Holman Johnson’s show at the JCA and she looked so lovely.

“Mary was so full of life and always a joy to be around. I was fortunate to be her friend. We lost someone special here on Earth.

Sheila Jackson, City of Troy tourism director, agreed that Mary Hobdy will be missed.

“There was only one, Mary Hobdy,” Jackson said. “Her gift of loving people will live on.”