Mari D. Terman, 77, of Wilmette, Ill., died Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013, after a long struggle with cancer.
A memorial service was held on Jan. 20 at Congregation Sukkat Shalom in Wilmette. Memorials in her memory to the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, 1155 E. 58th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, www.oi.uchicago.edu, would be appreciated.
Mari began a near lifetime of community service in 1960 by joining the League of Women Voters in Wilmette, and served several stints as president of that organization. In addition to her role as Village of Wilmette trustee from 2005-2011, Mari also served on the Wilmette Board of Health, including a term as its chairwoman from 1985-1995; the Senior Resources Commission from 1996-2000; and the Board of Police and Fire Commissioners from 2011-2012.
She loved her community, and was interested in good government and decent, sane policy.
Born into a family of intellectuals and professionals, Mari Jane DeCosta was raised in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood. Her father, Edwin J. DeCosta, was a renowned obstetrician at Northwestern Hospital in Chicago. Her grandfather, Benjamin Bachrach, assisted Clarence Darrow in the Leopold and Loeb “trial of the century” in 1924, and was Cook County’s first public defender.
Her mother, Mari Bachrach DeCosta, was a graduate of the University of Chicago, as was her grandmother, Grace Meyers DeCosta, who was one of the first women to graduate from the prestigious university.
Mari graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Radcliffe College in 1957 with a degree in biology and fine arts. A year later, she received a Luckhardt Fellowship to pursue an advanced degree in physiology at the University of Chicago.
There, she reconnected with her University of Chicago Laboratory Schools classmate and boyfriend, future husband David Terman. The two were married in 1959. Children Mark, Anne and Eric followed and the family set up life in Wilmette.
With her children nearly grown, Mari returned to school and received a Master of Business Administration degree from Northwestern’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management in 1980. She then launched a second career in hospital administration. After working at Chicago Lakeside Veterans Hospital, she joined Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center and held a number of executive positions over the next 20 years. She retired in 2003 as head of admitting.
Over the same period of time, she also held numerous committee posts and teaching and administrative positions at Rush University, College of Health Sciences. Mari was a past president of the Radcliffe Club of Chicago, the first woman president of the Harvard Club of Chicago and a founding member of North Shore Village, an online community that provides support for seniors who want to stay in their homes. She was also a docent for 15 years at the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago, and a member/secretary of Planned Parenthood for 10 years.
Travel was another of Mari’s passions. Europe, Turkey, Syria, Israel, Egypt and her beloved Colorado were favorite destinations.
During her retirement, she immersed herself in photography and nature lore. She kept a thriving garden and became an ornithological expert, passions she shared with her six grandchildren.
Mari’s most important gift to her children was the freedom she gave to each one of them.
Mari was preceded in death by her parents and her sister, Catherine Burstein.
She is survived by her husband Dr. David M. Terman, of the home; sons, Mark Terman of Kansas City, Mo., and Dr. Eric (Mari Philipsborn) Terman, Chicago; daughter, Anne (Marcus) Wedner, Chicago; grandchildren, Jeremy, Columbia, Mo., Michael, Kansas City, Mo., Dora, Martha, Eli and Audrey; sister, Louise (Burton) Wides; brother, John DeCosta; and brother-in-law, Stuart Burstein.
Arr: Chicago Jewish Funerals-Skokie Chapel, 847-229-8822, www.cjfinfo.com.