Mary Garvin Eddy (b. 26 Dec. 1896, d. 4 Aug. 1990)

Mary Emma Garvin [Eddy]

* This biography and photos of Mary Eddy were contributed by Julia Costell, the Granddaughter of Mary Eddy - May 22, 2022. (All photos are Julia's, except the first and last two)

Mary Eddy (b. 26 Dec. 1896, d. 4 Aug. 1990) in 1965 in Ainab (Photo by Joan Landis)

Mary Emma Garvin was, like her husband William Alfred Eddy, born to a Presbyterian missionary family. 

Mary Emma Garvin at Wooster College, Ohio. Ca. 1914, age 17

Garvin Family Portrait:  Santiago, Chile, 1910-11. Garvin Family. (front row seated) Gordon Goodale Garvin, Emma Frances (Goodale) Garvin, James Francis Garvin, John Trumbull Garvin; (back row standing) Norman Garvin, Mary Emma Garvin (Eddy), Ruth Pamona Garvin (Chaffin), Hugh Garvin, James Francis Garvin, jr.

Her father, James Francis Garvin, and mother, Emma Frances Goodale, established one of the first public schools in Chile. Interestingly, Emma was born in Marash, Turkey in 1861 (another story). Mary was born in Valparaiso, Chile, December 26, 1896, the seventh of nine children (seven of whom were brothers!). As with her siblings, she was sent to the U.S. to attend high school at the College of Wooster in Ohio, well known for educating the children of missionaries. 

At high school, she met the child of missionaries in Syria, Bill Eddy, who became her lifelong partner. He was a good friend of her older brother. While Bill transferred to Princeton his sophomore year of college, Mary Garvin completed her degree at Wooster. Upon graduation, Bill enlisted in the Marines and days before he was to be shipped out he sent a telegram for Mary to meet him at Union Station in Washington D.C – they were married the next day: October 5, 1917. 

Bill and Mary Eddy at hospital after he was wounded in WWI. Eddy was wounded in his right hip at Belleau Wood. The hip eventually became infected, which led Eddy to lose all mobility in the hip and left him with a pronounced limp for the rest of his life. He was then sent back to the U.S. to recuperate. For his actions as a combat Marine in World War I, he received the Navy Cross, the Distinguished Service Cross, two Silver Stars, and two Purple Hearts.

The couple had four children: Bill, Mary “Cita”, Jack, and Carmen. 

ca. 1940: (L-R standing)  Jack, Mary Cita, Bill jr, (seated) Bill, Carmen, Mary

Bill, Mary, and Crown Prince, Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud سعود بن عبد العزيز آل سعود  in Saudi Arabia. In 1943, Eddy was sent to Saudi Arabia as a U.S. State Dept. employee, resident at the American Legation in the city of Jeddah. On September 23, 1944, he became the "Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary" to Saudi Arabia, remaining in this post until May 28, 1946

1952 Ainab, Mary Eddy, Ruth Eddy, ??, Dora Eddy Close, Jake Eddy, Harold Close, Carmen Eddy (kneeling)
Ken Close adds: "Dora Eddy and her husband Harold Wilberforce Close built the house in Ainab that they later sold to Uncle Bill and Aunt Mary Eddy. Harold Close was dean of arts and sciences and professor of chemistry at AUB for some forty years. At one point, four Arab heads of states had been his students."

Her life adventures are chronicled with those of her husband in An Arabian Knight by Thomas J. Lippman (Selwa Press 2008). More personally, she was a lifetime avid birdwatcher and sent regular reports to the National Audubon Society when living in Jidda. She was also an intrepid hiker, guiding visiting scholars, friends, and visitors to natural, geological, and archaeological sites encountered in Saudi Arabia and Lebanon. 

Bill and Mary 1957

 In addition to her native Spanish and English, she spoke serviceable French and enough Arabic to navigate Arab markets. After Bill died in May of 1962, Mary continued living in their apartment in Ras Beirut near the AUB Hospital and enjoying summers in Ainab. Family and friends were frequent recipients of “Aunt Mary’s” generous hospitality. She was a prominent member of Beirut’s social world with a schedule that left her visiting granddaughters exhausted. 

Above Byblos in Smar Jbeil, 1966, Emmy Boynton (Front Left) Mary Eddy behind her, Doris Dodge, Ann Gordon, Isobel Fistere (standing), Joan Landis (photo Josh Landis)

Mary Eddy and Archie Crawford at the Artist and Art Party (early 1965 Joan Landis)

In 1972 she moved to Hanover, NH, to be closer to her family. She eventually retired to Meadow Lakes, N.J., where she died on August 4, 1990.