‘Keep going and doing’
On May 28, retired nurse and longtime St. John Vianney Catholic School volunteer Mary Derr Uptagrafft celebrated her 90th birthday.
A limousine took her from her Valley home to Hauser Lake, Idaho, where an estimated 75 people joined her in the festivities. The party brought generations of family and friends together, many of whom benefited from Uptagrafft’s zest for life.
“If I could be half as good as she is at being 90,” said Jane Sebert, secretary at St. John Vianney School, “I’ll be happy.”
Uptagrafft and her husband, Andy, were one of the founding families of St. John Vianney. From the day the school opened, 53 years ago, Uptagrafft has spent countless hours volunteering. Active in the parish’s many committees, Uptagrafft also sings in the choir.
Uptagrafft has spent much of her life as a caretaker. The oldest of 10 children, she helped her mother for many years. She comes from a family of nurses and doctors, and from the time she was 7, she wanted to be a nurse. She was born at Sacred Heart Hospital, where she graduated from nursing school in 1938, but when nurses were drafted during World War II, Uptagrafft put her license on hold in order to raise her four children.
During that time, she played. “When I was young, I hardly played. Instead, I took care of my siblings.” Andy Uptagrafft was an only child with all the time in the world to fish and hunt. He introduced Uptagrafft to trapshooting and she got quite good at it, even winning an award.
In 1968, her daughter, Mary Jo Strope, talked her into returning to work. After refresher courses and more training, Uptagrafft finally started a full-time profession of caring for others. She worked at Sacred Heart and in nursing homes. When her husband died in 1973, she was fully immersed in her role as a caretaker at work, at St. Vianney and at home with grandchildren.
Since retiring 19 years ago, Uptagrafft has been able to devote more of her time to St. John Vianney School. She took on the task of doing the paperwork that the state requires for each student’s immunization records, and she has coordinated the eye screenings, hearing screenings, and scoliosis tests with the help of parent volunteers and student nurses.
During one hearing exam, Uptagrafft suggested further testing because a student could not hear in one ear. After his doctor checked him out, it was discovered that he had a tumor. He is now in the seventh grade and doing fine.
Richard Pelkie is the school principal and though it is only his first year at the school, it seems he’s known her longer, “I have heard a lot about her. She’s always popping in and out, working hard and smiling.”
Uptagrafft also keeps active by taking care of her home that sits on nearly two acres. She cleans, cooking and gardens. Even arthritis and a heart attack three years ago haven’t stopped her. Her advice to others: “Keep going and doing.”
Her large family includes 16 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.
Sebert considers Uptagrafft an inspiration, “She does so much. She helps us keep going.”
Uptagrafft attends Mass every morning and remains positive and mostly worry free. “I don’t let things bother me. There’s no sense worrying about things that I can’t help.”