Mary Redinbo

Mary Clare Finley Redinbo died on October 11, 2019 at age 80 of heart failure while at home with her husband in Davis, California. Mrs. Redinbo was born July 17, 1939, in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, and moved with her family in 1949 to Lafayette, Indiana, where she received a diploma from Jefferson High School in 1957. Mrs. Redinbo earned a Bachelor of Science degree with Honors from Purdue University in 1962, following a five-year originating program in Audiology and Speech Sciences where she was the recipient of a national achievement scholarship. She was a language specialist in the Fairfax Virginia School District and taught English as a Second Language to members of the diplomatic corps in Washington, D.C.

Mary Clare Finley married G. Robert Redinbo December 30, 1961 in Lafayette, Indiana and began her career as a wife, mother and community volunteer in 1965. Mrs. Redinbo moved thirteen times during her marriage and lived in the states of Indiana, New Jersey, Virginia, Wisconsin, Maryland, Florida, New York and lastly California. Each state provided family memories such as the 1976 Bicentennial celebration at the nation’s capital, Disney World in Orlando, Florida, and the1980 Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid, New York. Another highlight was living abroad for a year in Zurich, Switzerland in 1993 and several trips to Japan in the 1980-90s.

Mary Redinbo was a graduate student in communications and linguistics at The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in New York in the early 80's and later at UCDavis studying foreign language.

A resident of Davis since 1984, Mrs. Redinbo is recipient of the first Alumni Association Citation for Excellence for her work with the UCDavis Alumni Contact Service.  She was a volunteer research associate for the Davis Chamber of Commerce downtown coordinator.

Throughout her lifetime Mrs. Redinbo enjoyed entertaining and was an unofficial host to visiting university scholars and their families as well as a person who welcomed newcomers to UCDavis into her home.

In recent years Mrs. Redinbo was a writer and poet.  She practiced photography as a hobby and developed the habit of bicycling or walking during which she concentrated on spiritual development.  She was a weekly communicant of St. James Parish.

Mrs. Redinbo saw her marriage as her greatest accomplishment.  Her children and grandchildren are her legacy.

She is preceded in death by her first child, Anne Marie, who died following birth in 1963 at a military hospital in New Jersey, and her parents Mary V. Broghammer Finley and Bernard J. Finley. She is survived by her husband G. Robert Redinbo of 57 years, her three children and their spouses, seven grandchildren, and two brothers and two sisters (names listed below).

A Funeral Mass to celebrate her life is scheduled for Saturday, October 19, 2019 at 10am at St. James Catholic Church at 1275 B Street, Davis, California 95616.  Donations in memory of Mrs Redinbo will be accepted on behalf of the St Vincent DePaul Society by St James Catholic Church (530.756.3636 or stjamesdavis.org).

Mrs. Redinbo will be buried in a private Rite of Committal on Wednesday, October 23, 2019 at St Boniface Cemetery in Lafayette, Indiana, in a family plot beside her first born infant daughter.

Surviving Family:  husband G. Robert Redinbo, residing in Davis California; son Gregory F. Redinbo and wife Emily Cooney Redinbo, residing in Portland, Oregon, and grandchildren Nathan, Margaret and John; son Matthew R. Redinbo and wife Elizabeth Pratt Redinbo, residing in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and grandchildren Andrew and Samuel; daughter Catherine A. Redinbo Kerpsack and husband Richard J Kerpsack, residing in San Luis Obispo, California, and grandchildren Grant and Claudia; siblings Roseanne Finley Sneddon, Patrick Finley, David Finley, and Kathleen Finley Ross