August 15, 1937 – February 5, 2026
Mary Theresa (Donegan) Stuckey, Queen of the chocolate chip cookie, toasted PB and J, and banana bread, known variously as gorgeous, Grammy, Mimi, and Mom, passed away on February 5, 2026, near Winchester, VA, where she had been living with her son, David, and daughter-in-law, Caitlyn. She was 88.
Originally from Reading, MA, Mary joined the U.S. State Department Foreign Service in her early twenties as a Communications Officer. Her first overseas assignment was Tegucigalpa, Honduras, where her duties included picking up the Embassy’s daily cable traffic from the Western Union office on her way to work. It was in Honduras that Mary met her husband, fellow Foreign Service Officer Robert” Bob” Stuckey, who predeceased her. Mary and Bob served overseas for many years with postings in Managua, Hong Kong, Moscow, Brasilia, London, Kabul, Panama, and Amman. She relished the opportunity to experience other cultures, haggling in the bazaars of Damascus and the shops of Delhi, exploring the ancient sites of Copan, Petra, Bamian, and Fatehpur Sikri, and sunning from Repulse Bay to Porto da Barra. She especially enjoyed going for long rambles in the countryside to see an old stupa, a glacial tarn, or simply to enjoy the air. Along the way, Mary built a wonderful collection of locally made art, rugs, and artifacts that is now in the homes of her children. Forced to resign in 1963, because of that era’s Foreign Service marriage bar against women, “as you might tell secrets to your husband,” Mary rejoined the Department in the Seventies, her final assignment was in the Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism, before she retired in 1997.
The ensuing years found Mary doting on her grandchildren with Bob, tending her flower garden, and scouring flea markets for treasures. There were trips with young charges to zoos, parks, and museums, stories read and reread, and tummies filled with good things. Those were fortunate children.
Mary was born August 15, 1937, in Reading, one of 11 siblings and the youngest daughter of Maurice and Doris Donegan. She is remembered by her brothers, Tom and Bill; her three sons, Robert Jr. and wife, Julie, David and wife, Caitlyn, Matthew and wife, Angela; four grandchildren, Mary, John, Potomac, and Carson; and more nieces and nephews than can easily be numbered.
Her family suggests that, in lieu of flowers, a donation could be offered to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, P.O. Box 1000, Dept. 142, Memphis, TN 38148.
