Mary Joann Hoyt Blum
Cushing, Maine.
April 9th 1926 – Feb. 19th 2015
Though she remains very much alive in the hearts and minds of her family, friends and colleagues, Mary Joann Hoyt Blum died on Feb. 19th at 11:45 PM at the Sussman House hospice in Rockport.
She was overwhelmed by complications from surgery.
Mary would want all to know that she received world-class medical treatment at Pen Bay Medical Center. And that she was vigorous, comfortable and peaceful throughout the process.
Mary Hoyt Blum was born on April 9th, 1926, in Iowa City, Iowa, to Helen Sawyers Hoyt and Lyman H. Hoyt. After he completed medical school at the University of Iowa, Dr. Hoyt accepted a residency at what is now the Brigham and Woman’s Hospital in Boston, and the couple moved to Boston, where they eventually resided on Fisher Avenue in Brookline.
After the birth of her brother George in 1928, Mary attended Boston schools and received her B.A. from Mount Holyoke College in 1948. “She loved Mount Holyoke,” recalled Carolyn Littman, a close college friend who now lives in Tiburon, Calif. “I think it was an incredibly special, nurturing place for her. It was sort of her introduction to dance, which became her life’s work.”
In the early 1950’s, Mary moved to New York City to study with choreographers Martha Graham, Doris Humphry and Lois Silk. She earned a master’s in dance education from New York University. “I began to teach, praying that I would do no dishonor to my beloved art form,” wrote Mary in a 1991 autobiographical essay. Mary would go on to study Graham technique for over 20 years and offer graduate level dance courses at Queensborough Community College in New York City.
In 1957, she married Ludwig L. Blum and moved to Queens, where she raised a daughter, Claire, and a son, Jonathan, and became active in community-based recreation and dance projects.
In 1980, Mary moved to Cushing, Maine to take advantage of local spiritual, cultural and artistic community. Her approach, good humor and commitment to excellence made an immediate impact. “I was trying to find the authentic me,” said her niece, Elizabeth Hannibal Drury of South Thomaston, Maine, who shared a home with Mary in the late 1980’s, “She showed me how to live.”
Mary made substantial contributions across a broad spectrum of Maine-based social organizations, including Broad Cove Church in Cushing, the Down East Singers, and Bay Chamber Concerts. And she was an active collector of the work of Maine artists. She cherished the works of Bernard Langlais, Lois Dodd, Nancy Wissemann-Widrig, John Wissemann, Joe Fiore, Charles DuBack, Robert Brooks, Lois Anne, Libby Wohler, Marjorie Strauss and many others. “She had a lovely way of making things simple, so they happened,” remembered Littman.
Memorial services will commence, as the weather warms and logistics allow, with a service at Cushing’s Broad Cove Church, interment at the Norton Cemetery in Cushing, and an open house at 7 Henderson Lane sometime in early summer. There will also be a reception in the New York City area later this year.
In lieu of flowers, please support The Sussman House in the name of Mary Blum. <>
“Like anybody else, she had difficult times,” summed up James N. Bagnall, a cousin of Mary’s by marriage. “But Mary always rose above whatever her problems were.”
Mary Blum is survived by her brother, George L. Hoyt (wife June), of Cushing; daughter Claire DeStevens (husband Joseph); son Jonathan (wife Margaret); grandchildren Christopher DeStevens and Nina DeStevens; two nieces, and a legion of friends.
On April 9th, she would have been 89.
To extend online condolences, light a candle for Mary, or to share a story or pictures, please visit Mary’s Book of Memories at Hallfuneralhomes.com
Hall’s of Thomaston is caring for the family.