Mary Elizabeth (French) Pollard (1947-2008)

POLLARD, FRENCH, EVANS, MANCHESTER, DAVIS, MAHN

Posted By: Mark Christian
Date: 10/25/2015 at 15:57:01

Obituary submitted by Dennis Bell:

Mary Elizabeth French Pollard - Mary Elizabeth French was born in Ames, Iowa on April 6, 1947, the daughter of Larry and Kathy French, of Maxwell. She gave her life to the Lord at an early age and was baptized in the Maxwell Christian Church in 1957.

The eldest of two daughters, Maribeth attended the Maxwell schools. She was active in band and vocal music and participated in basketball and girls' track. Her years in 4-H brought her many honors and it was here that she discovered her lifelong love of sewing. She was active in the Youth program of her church, serving as a state officer in the Christian Youth Fellowship. Through Junior High and High School she sang in the choir and was an assistant church organist.

Maribeth graduated from the University of Iowa with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Public Health Nursing and Social Work. She worked as a nurse in the University of Iowa Hospitals and at St. Luke's Hospital in Cedar Rapids before teaching Public Health Nursing at Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids. She received her Master's Degree in Public Health Nursing from the University of Arizona, where her final thesis was later used as a textbook for incoming freshmen students of nursing studies. She taught Public Health Nursing at the University of Arizona and at the University of Mississippi. In 1980 she was recognized as an Outstanding Young Woman of America.

Soon after this, Maribeth felt called to serve with World Vision and was sent as a Missionary Nurse and Trainer of Diagnosers in refugee camps in Thailand and Cambodia. She spent nearly five years living and working under dangerous conditions along the war-torn border between these two countries. During the last three years of her missionary service she worked under the auspices of the American Refugee Committee. Several of her Diagnosers became especially dear to her and through her efforts, and aided by some of her relatives here in the United States, she was able to help nine refugee families to relocate to new lives in this country and Canada. One couple, Sareth and Many Chhim became a part of the French family and lived for a time her in Maxwell. Now living in Seattle, Washington, they have come here today to join in paying a loving tribute to Maribeth. Following her return to the United States, Maribeth was commissioned to write the lengthy textbook which was used in training the nurses and diagnosers in the refugee camps along the Thai-Cambodian border.

On June 26, 1987 Maribeth was united in marriage to James Pollard, of Des Moines. The wedding, officiated by her father, took place in the backyard of the home of her grandparents; Russell and Iva French in Des Moines.

Maribeth was employed as a Public Health nurse, and she also taught Public Health Nursing at Des Moines Area Community College. Her latest employment was in Case Management and in work with the Elderly Waiver Program. During all of this time she was actively engaged in making clothing and bedding for those less fortunate. One recent year she sewed five hundred pretty tote bags and she and Jim filled them with personal care items for the clients of Women's Resource Center and Hope Ministries. Even after her health failed and she was no longer able to work as a nurse, she continued to make knitted and crocheted hats and scarves for children and made afghans and pieced pretty quilts for those in need. Love, caring, and service to others were Maribeth's trademarks, and along with her cheerful acceptance of her health status and her unfailing sense of humor, she will be remembered by a wide circle of friends and acquaintances whose lives she influenced.

Maribeth died from complications of cardiomyopathy on Thursday morning, September 18, 2008. She was preceded in death by her sister, Barbara French Evans, and her grandparents. Left to treasure her memory are her husband, James Pollard; two step-daughters, Pauline Manchester and her husband Douglas of Ankeny, and Teri Pollard of Des Moines; a step-granddaughter, Carol Davis and her husband Dallas, and step-great-grandchildren, Roddy and Mariena, of Des Moines. Also, her parents, Larry and Kathy French of Maxwell; one nephew, David Evans, of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; on niece, Laura Evans Mahn and her husband, Jason, of Rock Island, Illinois; and two beloved grand nephews, Asa and Grabriel Mahn. There are many aunts, uncles, and cousins who survive, along with a host of friends.

Maribeth's life was a life well lived.