Mary Brower ’48 Post

Mary E. Post slipped from this life on March 15, 2022, with her children at her side. She died at Westminster Woods where she had been a resident for twenty-seven years.
Mary Ellen was born to the Reverend Bert Brower and wife Susanna (Hamelink) in Grand Rapids, Michigan where her father pastored the Home Acres Reformed Church. Her early childhood memories were, however, of Orange City, Iowa, and American Reformed Church. There she made life-long friendships. When her father answered the call of Unity Reformed Church, the family moved to Muskegon, Michigan. A music lover, she played cello and piano and sang in numerous choirs. After graduating from Muskegon High School, she attended Hope College in Holland, Michigan. There she grew to know Ernest Harris Post, Jr. better; they had been casual acquaintances during their high school years. Their parents had double-dated in Holland two decades before. Mary and Ernie were married at Trinity Reformed Church in Holland on August 23, 1947. They had a long and loving marriage until Ernie’s death at Westminster Woods June 3, 2015.
Upon graduation from Hope College in 1948, Mary taught high school English. But she became a full-time mother when three of her children were born in East Lansing, Michigan where her husband was attending graduate school at Michigan State University. Mary and Ernie moved to Huntingdon, Pennsylvania in 1959 when Ernie accepted an offer to teach in the History Department at Juniata College. It was here that their fourth child was born. It was a happy household filled with children and pets of all kinds. At one point, four cats, a dog, two mice, and twelve goldfish resided in Mary’s house. Even at the end of her life, Mary had a beloved canary.
When their youngest entered school, Mary returned to teaching. She taught senior English at the Huntingdon Area High School for twenty years, retiring in 1989. Strong in her faith, Mary was a long-time member of the Huntingdon Presbyterian Church, even serving as choir director for several years. Mary and Ernie shared a love of traveling. They traveled broadly, both in the United States and internationally. They enjoyed a number of cruises, often traveling with friends. In retirement, they volunteered at the Ganado Presbyterian Church on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona and served as campground hosts in national parks. For decades they wintered at their second home in Fort Pierce, Florida where at times they would watch the sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean.
Besides her husband, Mary was preceded in death by her youngest child, Susanna Post Meyers of Vero Beach, Florida. She is survived by her children Mary “Marty” Post (Alan Goldstein) of Springfield, Virginia, Ernest Paul Post (Judith) of Huntingdon, and Jon Jeffrey Post ’77 (Diane) of Baltimore, Maryland. She is survived by eleven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her brother, David Lee Brower ’63 of New Ipswich, New Hampshire and son-in-law Daren Meyers of Vero Beach, Florida.