Mary Stewart Gerhart, 65, passed away peacefully at her home in Ojai, California, on October 14, 2024, surrounded by friends and family.
Mary was born on April 28, 1959 in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. She spent her childhood in Ridgewood, New Jersey before moving to Santa Barbara, California (where she graduated from Laguna Blanca High School). Mary spent summers from an early age on the shores of Lake Champlain, with friends, family, and countless golden retrievers. This is where she developed her sense of adventure – specifically her love for snow and water skiing – hobbies she carried into adulthood.
Later in life, Mary lived between Ojai, California and Tega Cay, South Carolina. She pursued a career in finance & accounting, most recently serving as finance lead at Crescent Event Productions, where she worked for over a decade. In her free time, she took up hiking, participating in multiple 28+ mile one-day hikes while raising money for Make-a-Wish. Even after her cancer diagnosis in 2021, Mary continued to live an active life – hiking, skiing (as recently as February of this year, while undergoing cancer treatments) and traveling.