Mary Tarabay Ruiz

Mary Tarabay Ruiz passed away on October 27, 2025, leaving behind a legacy of compassion, intelligence, creativity, and quiet perseverance. She is survived by her brother, John B. Sawyer, and her sister, Suzi Mickler, with whom she shared a lifetime of memories. Known for her keen intelligence and wit, Mary was also very beautiful with dark hair and dark eyes.

Born in Berkeley, California, Mary was a member of the Baha’i Faith and of the Seattle Baha’i community. Her strength of character and her unwavering commitment to service touched everyone who crossed her path. Despite physical limitations that accompanied her throughout life, Mary continually offered kindness, encouragement, and tangible acts of care to those who were suffering, homeless, or hungry. Her generosity was heartfelt and constant.

She was deeply shaped by her loving grandparents, who wrote to her throughout her childhood and beyond—letters Mary treasured for her entire life. She often spoke of her grandmother’s creativity, recalling how “Everything she did, she made a work of art,” from gardening to homemaking to the joyful evenings when she gathered her grandchildren around the piano to sing.

Mary had a special affection for animals, especially cats, perhaps influenced by her distant family connection to the real-life Mary who inspired the nursery rhyme “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” This ancestral namesake delighted her and connected her to her own name in a unique way.

Creativity and curiosity guided Mary from an early age. A Brownie and Girl Scout, she spent childhood summers at her grandmother’s ranch in California, spinning imaginative stories for her siblings as they walked the trails. She made beautiful jewelry and bookmarks in her teens and practiced ballet with natural grace until, at age 11, she contracted polio. Though it limited her physically, she met the challenge with courage and determination, continuing to excel academically—especially in astronomy, which fascinated her.

Her remarkable brilliance earned her recognition as a National Merit Scholar and a scholarship to Stanford University. Over the years, she earned degrees in Naturopathic Medicine and English composition, blending her love for science, healing, and the written word. As a young adult, she married Ajaj Tarabay of Lebanon and lived there for several years; the two remained dear friends throughout his life. She later married Manuel Ruiz for a short time.

Writing was Mary’s lifelong passion. She filled journals with reflections on daily life and crafted poems, stories, and meditations about people, science, and, of course, her beloved cats. Her sense of humor and gentle resilience shone through her work, even as aging brought increasing weakness to her muscles.

Mary eventually came to Seattle to study at Bastyr University, later working as a medical transcriptionist. After retiring, she returned wholeheartedly to writing. In 2024, she found renewed purpose as she zoomed about Seattle in her motorized wheelchair offering small but meaningful acts of kindness to children and adults. She often said, “It was the best year of my life.”

Mary was laid to rest with a Baha’i burial at Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Renton, Washington, in early November.

Her life was marked by quiet heroism—an enduring commitment to kindness, learning, imagination, and faith. She will be remembered with love by all who knew her.                   

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