Mary C. Lankford

After a long and valiant battle with leukemia, Mary Caroline (Kayser) Lankford of Corvallis passed away on November 11, 2010 at the age of 48. During her 16 month illness, Mary showed courage and fortitude, repeatedly renewing the effort to be a positive person and patient. Mary kept her sense of humor alive in spite of all her pain, touching the hearts of her many friends, family, and health care providers in Montana and Seattle. Her surviving family members are forever grateful for the love and support shown by all these good people whose compassion helped us through this difficult time.

Mary was born in Fresno, California in 1962 to parents Merv and Sally Kayser, and grew up in neighboring Clovis. She graduated from Clovis West High School and enjoyed marching in the school band. Mary graduated from CSUF in 1985 with a Bachelors of Science degree emphasis in animal science. Her early love of animals and the outdoors led her to work as a veterinary assistant and as a packer for the High Sierra Pack Station where she met and married Tim McGrady. Their beloved son Tom was born in Elko, Nevada in 1993 shortly before they moved to Victor, Montana. After the marriage dissolved, Mary worked with Montana horse whisper Wayne Duncan training cutting horses. When Wayne passed away suddenly at a horse show, Mary went to work at Safeway where an admiring customer, Dean Lankford, met her and suddenly began to find more reasons to get groceries. They were married in 2004 and bought their present home in Corvallis with views of the Sapphire and Bitterroot Mountains she loved. In 2007, Mary began working at Marcus Daly Memorial Hospital where she felt truly blessed to be a part of such a close-knit, caring community. After being diagnosed in 2009, Mary received treatment at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. When Mary was told by her doctors at SCCA that there were no options left, her last request was to be home in Montana with her family and friends at Marcus Daly.

Mary is survived and will be terribly missed by her son, Tom McGrady, her husband Dean Lankford and his family, parents Sara Jane and Mervin Kayser, sisters Terry Portillo and Cynthia Kayser and their families, and the many people whose lives she touched. A celebration of Mary's life is planned for a later date. Mary's family is grateful for the loving care she received from SCCA and especially Marcus Daly Memorial Hospice.