Lasting Memories

Mary Fortney
Aug. 8, 1924-Jan. 23, 2011
Menlo Park, California

Mary Fortney, seasoned Bay Area journalist, died Jan. 23, 2011, of natural causes at her Menlo Park home. She was 87.

Born August 8, 1924, in the rural Los Banos area, where her family had a ranch, she attended Dos Palos High School in Firebaugh. She graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in journalism.

Her professional career in San Francisco started with reporting jobs and later she was named editor of maritime and business journals, including the Pacific Shipper and the Daily Commercial News.

In 1966 she moved to the Peninsula and joined the staff of the Palo Alto Times. She continued with that newspaper through its transformation into the Peninsula Times Tribune until 1992, when the newspaper was discontinued. During that time she covered many local beats, including city government in East Palo Alto and Los Altos, Stanford medical news, and every variety of general assignment.

"I gleaned from Mary an almost constant joy in her profession. She loved writing and she loved people, and she wove them together in a tight writing style in which her empathy and compassion glowed through," former Palo Alto Times and Weekly editor Jay Thorwaldson wrote of Fortney.

"Mary was a thorough professional, covering a wide variety of stories under a wide variety of circumstances. She always did the job, including one time I recall when she was sent on an assignment that was personally obnoxious to her because of a family tragedy. She returned to the city room shaken after that story -- but she got it, she wrote it, and she wrote it well," former colleague Ron Goben said.

Family remembered her as an independent, compassionate woman.

"She was, we felt, a woman ahead of her time. She argued articulately and she was not only a liberal thinker but a woman who cared deeply about the plight of her fellow man," her niece-in-law Jolene Telles said.

Travel was her passion and she often took several trips abroad each year, including visits to numerous countries in the Middle East. She also championed liberal causes. She was also a strong supporter of San Franciso arts.

She is survived by her brother, Dick Telles; her nephews, Richard Telles, John Telles, and his wife Jolene, James Telles and his wife, Diane; nieces Sharon Wegis and her husband Ralph, Lisa Brozek and her husband Paul; numerous grand nieces and nephews as well as her beloved cat, Fuji.