MARY BERGSTROM ROBISON

Mary Louise Bergstrom Robison, born January 25, 1933, in Illinois, lived a life shaped by love, service, and quiet excellence. The only child of Arthur and Margaret Bergstrom, she grew up in a multigenerational Swedish-American home during the Great Depression. Her father, a World War I veteran, died when she was just 14; her mother passed when Mary’s own daughter was only four. Those early losses gave her a depth of compassion that would define the way she taught, loved, and moved through the world.

In her early twenties, while teaching summer school in Hawaii, Mary met C.C. Carpenter and his wife on a local tour. Impressed by her kindness, intelligence, and professionalism, Carpenter later sent her a personal letter inviting her to consider teaching in California. She accepted a contract with the Gallatin School District in 1958 at a starting salary of $5,250, beginning what would become nearly five decades of service to California children.

Mary was exceptionally gifted — a natural artist, musician, calligrapher, writer, and teacher. She played the organ, piano, and violin; she wove, quilted, baked, painted, and sang. Whatever she touched became beautiful. In her nearly fifty years in Downey Unified — most of them at Alameda Elementary School, where the library now bears her name — she pioneered the use of painting to help children write, long before arts-integrated literacy became common. Even Superintendent Dr. Ed Sussman once subbed for her bilingual class for a special event, a memory her students cherished.

She influenced countless children who passed through the very halls where she quietly changed lives. As we often say, teachers rarely see the full ripple effect of their work. But hers was unmistakable.

Her colleague and friend Melanie Alhandy (Conkle) captured Mary’s spirit in her poem “The Contribution,” writing that a life like Mary’s is measured not in years, but “in the hearts you’ve touched and the lives you’ve shaped.” Mary’s Los Angeles County Teacher of the Year application echoed the same truth: “Children learn best when they feel safe, valued, and encouraged to express their ideas.” That belief guided every moment she spent in the classroom.

Mary was deeply talented, endlessly curious, and profoundly faithful. She loved Jesus with her whole heart and looked forward to the day she would see Him face to face. After bravely fighting through her final illness, she entered His presence shortly before midnight on December 1, 2025, surrounded by love. She was dressed in her Sunday best — peaceful, beautiful, and finally pain-free.

She is survived by her daughter Margaret Ellen, her son-in-law Maximino, two granddaughters, two grandsons, and six great-grandchildren — all of whom adored her. She was preceded in death by her beloved husband Gene, with whom she shared over fifty years of marriage.

She asked for no memorial and no flowers, only that others come to know the love of Jesus as she did. For those wishing to honor her, donations may be made to the Mary Robison Library at Alameda Elementary School in Downey, where her legacy continues to shape young readers.

Our family would treasure any memories, stories, or small moments you carry of her. Thank you for your prayers, love, and kindness.

— Margaret Robison Olmedo, on behalf of our family