Mary Ross Peard (1935-2019)
Mary was born in Oakland, California. She grew up in San Francisco and Humbolt County, California.  She met her future husband Gerald Peard, in Weitchpec, Humbolt, California and they married in 1955.

After living in many communities throughout Northern California, Mary and her husband Gerald settled in Redding in the summer of 1970. Mary was very active in the many communities in which she lived.  She was an active supporter of youth organizations and activities including Girl Scouts, Catholic Youth Organization, Pacheco Elementary School, youth ministries, her children’s, grandchildren’s, and great grandchildren’s sports and activities.

Mary was a founding member of the Quilter’s Sew-Ciety of Redding in 1979. Mary served as President several times during the guild’s history. She also held other positions, such as VP, Opportunity Quilt Chair, Show Chair, etc. For several years, Mary taught a quilting class through the Shasta College Adult Education program, with classes in Anderson and Redding. Students signed up repeatedly to take her class, even though they only supposed to take the class once. She taught quilting classes offered by the guild that were held at Pacheco Elementary School in Redding.

Sometime in 1992, Mary founded the Quilt Guilds of the North Quarter and she served as President for about a decade. The membership of this group is made up of several dozen small to medium size guilds located throughout the Northern part of California, from just above Sacramento to the Oregon border. Mary wanted to help to these guilds share information about their upcoming quilt shows and guest speakers, learn how to run a guild as a non-profit organization, book local teachers, share bookings of national and international teachers, plan and organize projects like PIQF Bus Tours, Opportunity Quilts and Charity Quilts. This focused networking helped all the guilds earn more money for their Philanthropic projects and provided support to the guilds themselves. Guild members brought their Opportunity Quilts, along with their own show and tell, to the quarterly meetings. Each meeting is hosted by a different guild.

Mary was active in the TNT’s (Tuesday Night Threaders), a small quilting group that met weekly for many years. After that group disbanded, she was a member of the Thursday Sew ‘N Sews until she passed away. She participated in friendship block exchanges, round robins and generously shared her knowledge with new quilters. She traveled to quilt shows all over the Northstate, was a regular attendee at Pacific International Quilt Festival in Santa Clara, California and attended the International Quilt Festival in Houston, Texas several times.