2017 Mary Pope

MARY POPE

Organ, Tissue and Cornea Donor

Age 32 ~ Lakewood, CA

Donated on 1/5/14

at Hoag Hospital

Honored by OneLegacy.org

Always there to help everyone with a smile that could light up a room, Mary Pope was a loyal person who was loved by all who were blessed to have known her. Family was everything to Mary. She loved the weekend trips with the family, sporting events, concerts, wine nights, and coaching her son’s soccer team. After Mary’s tragic passing, she was able to donate which helped three separate families. A woman in pain with spinal degenerative disc disease, receiving a spinal graft with Mary’s tissue, wrote that “it literally changed my life!” Her family continues to celebrate her legacy by participating in the Donate Life Run Walk every year while CPR classes in her community are given in Mary’s honor.

Mary’s Story

Mary Pope was a mother, daughter, sister and friend.

Mary had a zest for life, a laugh that could lift your spirits, and a smile that could light up a room. She was a loyal person who was loved by all who were blessed to have known her. Family was everything to Mary, and her heart will forever be in her two boys she left behind, Travis and River Pope. At only 5 and 1-year-old, they lost the most important person in their life.

Mary tragically passed away from a choking accident at just 31 years of age. Mary was able to donate her liver, both kidneys, and pancreas, helping three separate families. Many more were helped through tissue donation, including a woman who had been in pain for 30 years due to a spinal degenerative disc disease, until receiving a spinal graft with Mary’s tissue. She wrote that “it literally changed her life!”

Mary was born, raised and lived in Lakewood, California. She loved weekend trips with the family, sporting events, concerts, wine nights, watching her oldest son play sports, and Mary even coached his soccer team. Her extremely close family and lifelong friends will always have a piece missing from their heart. The Donate Life Run Walk is something they now participate in every year and plan on continuing for years to come. In addition to bringing more awareness to organ donation, the family wants Travis and River to grow up knowing their mother was a hero. The Donate Life Run Walk gives them all something to hold on to every year, a positive day to not be sad and mourn her death, but to celebrate the donation of life, and the light that Mary was, to every person in her life both while alive, and those connected to her after her passing.

CPR classes are now being given in Mary’s honor in her community.