Mary
Duffy Scollins, 81, of South Burlington, Vt., passed away at home on
January 28, 2025, surrounded by her loving husband and daughters. A
constant, radiant source of joy, Mary will be missed by everyone
whose life was touched by her warmth and empathy — from the
generations of young patients she cared for at the Child Development
Clinic to the strangers she seemed to befriend on a daily basis.
Mary
was born in Kittery, Maine, on October 16, 1943, to Joseph and Mary
Duffy. The first of four children, Mary grew up in Watertown, Mass.,
where she graduated from Matignon High School before attending
Emmanuel College and Boston University School of Medicine (at a time
when there were still very few women entering medicine). In June
1968, she married classmate Michael Scollins, and the following year
they graduated together. She completed her pediatric residency at
D.C. Children’s Hospital, then moved to Burlington, Vt., to
complete a fellowship in child neurology and learning disabilities.
She worked for several years in the University of Vermont Department
of Neurology and devoted the remainder of her professional career to
serving children with special needs through the State of Vermont’s
Child Development Clinic, retiring in 2002. Mary loved working with
her team at CDC, and she developed a warm bond with her many patients
and their families.
Mary
was an avid gardener, and together she and Mike — an amateur
woodsman and stonemason — turned their yard into a magical space
for their two daughters and, eventually, three grandchildren. Mary
loved music of all kinds, and her home was always full of folk songs,
show tunes, ’50s rock (which she and her siblings sang in
three-part harmony), and classical music from Monteverdi to Messaien.
She was especially passionate about chamber music and was a founding
board member of the Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival (LCCMF).
Mary
took great pleasure in traveling, particularly to England, where she
and her sister Marka could spend hours exploring gardens, and to
various national parks, where she enjoyed hiking and spotting
wildlife with the family. In recent years, when travel became more
difficult, she became a regular member of Artemis Fitness, where she
treasured the support of the friends she made there, among both
members and staff.
She
was predeceased by her mother and father, as well as her sister
Elizabeth. She is survived by her husband, Michael; daughters
Kathleen of South Burlington, Vt., (with husband Brian Minier) and
Anne of South Portland, Maine, (with husband Jonathan Ewell); sister
Margaret Cubberley of Hayling Island, England, (with daughters
Frances and Peta and their families); brother, Joseph Duffy of
Kirkland, Wash., (with wife AnhThu, son Tommy and his family); and
beloved grandchildren, Ivan, Cedric and Isaiah.
A
funeral mass will be held on Saturday, February 8, 10 a.m., at St.
Catherine of Siena Catholic Church in Shelburne, Vt., followed by an
informal reception from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the parish hall.
Friends and family of all faith backgrounds are welcome to attend.
The burial will take place after the reception at Resurrection Park
in South Burlington. Memorial donations may be made to the LCCMF or
to the Stern Center for Language and Learning. Mary was also a strong
advocate for organ donation, having undergone a life-sustaining
kidney transplant in 2015; please consider registering with Donate
Life, if you haven’t already! Finally, the Scollins family would
like to thank the UVM hospice team, whose compassionate care allowed
Mary to remain at home in her final days and to pass gently from this
world.
Arrangements
are in the care of Ready Funeral & Cremation Services. To share a
message of condolence, please visit readyfuneral.com.
This article appears in Jan 29 – Feb 4, 2025.