Mary Lee True (87) was born in Missouri to Bert G. True and Flora Davis. For the majority of her early childhood Mary and her brother Tom grew up on the Papago Indian reservation in Arizona where her parents were teachers. Mary and Tom and were home schooled on the reservation and Mary often reminisced about her times playing with Tom when she was a child. Mary graduated from Berkeley High School in 1951 and attended University of California, Berkeley for two years. She was a member of Theta Upsilon Sorority. She met John W. Lindblad while attending UC Berkeley. Mary and John married on August 30th, 1952, and shortly after they moved to Fort Hood Army base in Texas. In 1954 they welcomed their first child Michael Lindblad. Following completion of John’s military service, they returned to California and settled in Napa, where they had two more children Lawrence Lindblad and Jennifer Lindblad (Giambastini). Mary and John were married over 23 years, then divorced. Mary went back to college and attended Sonoma State Univ. earning a B.A. in Sociology, and Calif. State Univ. in Sacramento where she earned A Master’s degree (MSW). Mary worked as a Psychiatric & Medical Social Worker at the Veteran’s Home in Yountville. In the mid-1970’s Mary moved to Pleasant Hill, CA with her daughter where they lived until the mid-1980s. Mary became a caregiver and conservator for her parents until they died. From 1979-89 Mary worked in private practice as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. Mary was married to her 2nd husband but ended that marriage shortly thereafter. Mary moved back to Berkeley where she met her 3rd husband Charles (Charlie) Healy. In 1990 Mary attended the Unity School of Religious Studies at Unity Village, Lees Summit, Missouri. While in Missouri Mary and Charlie were married at Unity Village on June 28th, 1990 and Mary was ordained as a Unity Minister in June 1992.
Mary and Charlie moved back to California and settled in Petaluma, where Mary pioneered her own church and was Founding Minister of Unity Church of Petaluma. Mary and Charlie were active members of the Petaluma community for over 20 years. They enjoyed Petaluma and their Sea Ranch home. After Charlie’s passing Mary continued to live in Petaluma for several years, and in 2017 moved back to Napa to live in retirement.
Throughout her life Mary enjoyed many passions, she was a life-long learner and member of Mensa, a kind and loving mother and grandmother, a beautiful painter and artist, she enjoyed writing, reading, gardening, attending local theatre (Cinnabar in Petaluma was a favorite), she participated in many clubs, she was a member of the Redwood Writers Club, the Iris Society, and the Red Hat Society in Napa. Throughout her lifetime Mary was passionate about helping others and was a very generous person. She promoted physical and mental healing, and had so many friends. Mary will be greatly missed.
A private family ceremony to honor our mom and grandmother will take place on Friday, July 10th at 1pm at Tulocay Cemetery. We wish we could open this to all her friends, but we are restricted from having a large gathering due to the COVID19 pandemic. We hope to have a larger celebration of life later in the year. Mary is survived by her three children: Michael Lindblad, Lawrence Lindblad, Jennifer Giambastini; and four grandchildren: Rustin Lindblad, Benjamin Lindblad, Megan Giambastini, and Emily Giambastini; and one great grandson Weston Lindblad.
To send flowers
to the family or plant a tree
in memory of Mary Lee True, please visit our floral store.