Mary Patricia Kouba, age 67, of Wilmington DE went home to be with her Lord and her parents on July 3, 2022. She passed peacefully in the presence of her brothers, caring staff, and many prayers from afar.
Mary Pat was born in Charleston WV and at age 3 moved to Wilmington DE, where she remained the rest of her life. Born with cerebral palsy, she participated for several decades in a ground-breaking program researching methods of physical patterning and stimulation to teach her body how to develop in ways that happen naturally for most of us. She made great progress with the help of parents, siblings, neighbors, church members, clergy, and specialists. She was the focus of a 1963 Life magazine article highlighting the methods and successes that she was experiencing.
Mary Pat lived a life defined by the abilities she developed. She was a bright individual with a sharp mind, a keen sense of humor, and a memory “like an elephant”. As a child, she developed her own sign language after being inspired by puppets on the old Captain Kangaroo TV show. She studied at the John G. Leach school and at home and earned her GED through James H. Grove High School. She was a resident of the Mary Campbell Center for 36 years, where she mastered advances in communication technologies, learned to swim and participated annually in Special Olympics swimming events. She was a devoted Catholic, reading Holy Scripture throughout her life, enjoying daily prayer, and attending Mass regularly.
She is preceded in death by her mother Rose Marie and her father Norman. She is survived by her brothers Peter (wife Laura) of Freeport ME Christopher (wife Dottie) of Chesapeake VA and Stephen (wife Jean) of Saco ME and by four nieces and two nephews, a great-niece and two great-nephews.
A visitation will be held from 10:30-11:30 am on Friday July 15, 2022, at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, 4701 Weldin Rd, Wilmington 19803, followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 11:30 am. Burial will be private.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Mary Campbell Center at http://www.marycampbellcenter.org/, where Mary Pat received an incredible level of care from a deeply devoted staff to whom the family is deeply and forever grateful.
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