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Former South Pasadena City Librarian Dies
Memorial services for Mary Helen Wayne, former South Pasadena City Librarian and author, and great-niece of South Pasadena's first mayor, were held January 18 on the Asilomar Conference Grounds.
Mrs. Wayne, 94, died December 17, 2007 in Portland, Oregon, where she moved several years ago to be near her son William and his family. She was born Mary Helen Collier in South Pasadena on May 9, 1913.
Mary Helen attended Occidental College and received a master's degree at Columbia University in New York City. In 1941 she married Robert D. Wayne and spent the years of World War II in South Carolina, while he was in Europe. When he returned in 1945, they settled in South Pasadena and Robert joined the faculty of the California Institute of Technology where he taught for over 20 years. They had a son, William.
Mary Helen began working at the South Pasadena Public Library in the early 1950's and attended the USC School of Library Science, receiving a master's degree. Soon after she became a reference librarian and was appointed City Librarian in 1972, a post she held until retiring in 1978.
Mary Helen was a woman of many interests and talents. In 1974 she co-wrote with her cousin Helen Hill Raitt of La Jolla a bestselling book entitled "We Three Came West," a true chronicle based on and including letters written by their great-aunts Margaret Collier Graham and Eliza Jane (Jennie) Collier.
Mary Helen also sparked the committee that led to the sponsoring of the prize-winning Centennial history of South Pasadena written by Jane Apostol that was published by the South Pasadena Public Library in 1987.
In 1989 Mary Helen and Robert moved to the Monterey Peninsula, where they lived for twelve years until Robert's death in 2000. Five years later Mary Helen moved to Portland.
Posted on January 18, 2008 1:09 PM | Permalink