05/16/2026
Honoring our dear friend, Mary
With heavy hearts, we share the passing of Mary Buell, Harbor WildWatch’s most recent Past President and one of our most devoted friends, volunteers, leaders, and champions.
Mary’s service to Harbor WildWatch spanned more than a decade. She first joined us as a front desk volunteer when we were still operating as the Skansie Visitor Center. Like so many people who spend time with us, Mary quickly fell in love with the mission — but in true Mary fashion, she didn’t just admire the work from afar. She showed up. Again and again. She became one of our most dedicated volunteers, a steady board leader, a generous advisor, and an unwavering cheerleader for our staff, programs, and community.
For those of us lucky enough to work closely with Mary, her impact was deeply personal. She was the person who asked how she could help before we even knew what we needed. She celebrated every good thing, helped carry the heavy loads, and always made time to ask about our kids, families and lives outside of work. She remembered birthdays, milestones, and small details that made people feel truly seen.
Mary’s love for Harbor WildWatch showed up in both big and beautifully ordinary ways: through years of board service, thoughtful counsel, front desk shifts, social media likes and comments, pumpkin loaves, holiday cookie & fudge baskets, gazpacho soup, book recommendations, recipes, articles, memes, laughter, and the kind of steady presence that made our organization stronger and our team feel supported.
We will miss Mary’s wisdom, humor, generosity, and sparkling spirit more than words can capture. Her legacy lives on in the organization she helped shape, the people she encouraged, and the countless ways she reminded us what it means to show up with love and a little glitter.
Thank you, Mary, for believing in Harbor WildWatch — and in all of us.
