Mary Schroer of Chelsea, 70, retired Democratic state legislator, died of cancer on Oct. 3, 2017 at Arbor Hospice.
A long-time resident of the Ann Arbor area, she lived in Chelsea in recent years.
Mary was born Feb. 11, 1947, the youngest of 12 children, in St. Marys, Ohio. Her parents were Louise (Koch) White and John Crane White.
Mary was married in 1967 to Michael Schroer, who survives. In addition, she is survived by three children, Amy L. Hyde, Jennifer A. Schroer and Rebecca A. Cohen. Mary is also survived by sons-in-law Jay Hyde and Michael Cohen. Mary and Michael were the proud grandparents of eight grandchildren; Jacob Bolt, Jack Bolt, Michael Bolt and Ellie Bolt all of Chelsea. Ben Cohen, Hannah Cohen and Matt Cohen of Satellite Beach, Florida and Piper Schroer of Chelsea. Mary is also survived by five of her brothers and sisters, Doris Reichert, Jim White, Jerry White, William White and Carolyn (Irons) Rhodes plus numerous nieces and nephews.
She was a well-informed, passionate and energetic legislator in the Michigan House of Representatives spanning the years 1992 through 1998. Her Washtenaw County District was the 52nd house district composed of the northern portion of Ann Arbor and the six townships comprising northwest Washtenaw County.
Her introduction to community activism occurred when Mary moved to Ann Arbor in 1972 and joined the group Parents for Alternative Learning, advocates for open classroom teaching in the Ann Arbor Schools. It was during this time that Ed Pierce, Ann Arbor’s mayor, recruited Mary to work on his successful campaign for the state senate. It was there that Mary displayed her firm grasp of campaign politics. She went on to play a prime role in the Ed Pierce campaign for governor.
Mary then became active in Lana Pollack’s successful campaign for the state senate. Upon forming her senate staff, Senator Pollack tapped Mary as a legislative assistant. Mary was a trusted and effective legislative assistant for the 10 years preceding her swearing in to the House of Representatives.
A memorial service will be held Thursday, Oct. 12 at 2 p.m. at the First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Ann Arbor, 4001 Ann Arbor-Saline Road, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
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