Born in Pitt County, North Carolina on August 18, 1929 as Mary Louis White to Louis John and Pearlie Wiggins GallowayWhite, Mary had four blood siblings; Mildred White, Willie James White, Ethel White Stanley, and Carlton White. She was predeceased by all of her siblings.
At the age of 9 Mary lost her older sister Mildred in a segregated hospital. It was at this moment in her life that the dream to become a nurse began. In 1945, at sixteen, Mary graduated Pitt County Training School in North Carolina. Disturbed by the racial intolerance of the south and highly motivated to further her life’s goals, she then jumped at the chance provided by an Aunt to move to New York City. There she met Charles Harris Lee Mike and they were married on February 13, 1948 in Maryland. To their union there were born four children. She was predeceased by Charles after 57 years of marriage in 2005.
Mary’s first training as a nurse came at Sydenham Hospital in 1948. In 1966 Mary commenced an Associate Nursing Degree at NYC Community College. On completion in 1970 she went on to attain her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from The City College of New York, graduating in 1974. She then worked as a Practical Nurse in the NYC Public Health Department before serving as Nursing Supervisor and Acting Director at Coney Island Hospital. She was the first African-American woman to teach Critical Care for Coronary Patients in New York City. Subsequently she pursued a master’s degree at City College of New York and paused indefinitely with only a paper or so to go due to illness and to care for her ailing mother. She officially retired from active nursing in 1986 from Coney Island Hospital.
Mary is survived by her children Olga Maria Mike, Charles Mike II and wife Thelma Mike, Leander and wife Deirdre Mike, and Sylvia Lewellyn Mike Franklin. Her beloved grandchildren include Aisha Mike, Jacari Mike, Toriseju Mike, Amani Franklin, Leander Mike II, Charles Mike III, Bashar Franklin, and Janelle Mike. She also leaves behind several nieces and nephews, cousins, close friends Walter and Katie Williams, and many children not of her blood but who were embraced as her own and nurtured by her during her life's journey.
"They are all my children," Mary would say.
With a strong belief that education is the passport to enlightenment and economical freedom, Mary Mike’s greatest wish was to leave a legacy for her children - lessons in self determination, survival, moral fortitude and the perpetuation of good will towards others.
Her heartfelt passion for developing others within her community impacted many that she ‘adopted’ in Bedford Stuyvesant and Crown Heights Brooklyn, New York where she lived for over 65 years. Therein lies a rich legacy.
Let the work that I've done speak for me.
