Mary Margaret Perry (January 3, 1943 – June 3, 2012) was an American

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

player. She competed at the

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...

and the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...

. She died at home of the rare disease, multiple system atrophy.

Early life

Perry was born in Burbank, California, in 1943. Her passion for volleyball began when she enrolled in Pierce Junior College and grew after she formed the South California volleyball team, the Renegades.

Olympics

In 1963, Perry was chosen for the US Women's Volleyball Team to compete at the Pan American Games in São Paulo, Brazil. The team won the gold medal. At the top of her sport throughout the 1960s, she went on to participate in two Olympiads in 1964 in Tokyo and the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.

Life after the Olympics

After graduating from

Cal State Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge) is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. With a total enrollment of 38,551 students (as of Fall 2021), it has the second largest u ...

with a bachelor's degree in physical education in 1971, Perry taught and coached in Honolulu and at Cal State Hayward, where she earned her master's degrees in P.E. and Education. Perry moved to

Ashland, Oregon Ashland is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. It lies along Interstate 5 approximately 16 miles (26 km) north of the California border and near the south end of the Rogue Valley. The city's population was 21,360 at the 2020 ...

in 1986 and assisted coaching women's volleyball at Southern Oregon State College (now

Southern Oregon University Southern Oregon University (SOU) is a public university in Ashland, Oregon. It was founded in 1872 as the Ashland Academy, has been in its current location since 1926, and was known by nine other names before assuming its current name in 1997.Kre ...

). She received her third master's degree in psychology from S.O.S.C. and coached senior citizens in fitness through

Elderhostel Road Scholar is an American not-for-profit organization that provides educational travel programs primarily geared to older adults. The organization is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. From its founding in 1975 until 2010, Road Scholar ...

. She produced the acclaimed fitness video, "Early Morning Stretch" and worked with geriatric patients through Jackson County Mental Health until her retirement in 2002.

Awards

In 1984, Perry was inducted into the Cal State Northridge Athletics Hall of Fame. In 2009, she was awarded the Flo Hyman All-Time Great Player Award and was inducted into the U.S. Volleyball Hall of Fame.

Death

Perry died at home of the rare disease, multiple system atrophy. At first she was diagnosed as having

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

but that was later defined as Multiple System Atrophy, aka

Parkinson plus syndrome Parkinson-plus syndromes (PPS) are a group of neurodegenerative diseases featuring the classical features of Parkinson's disease ( tremor, rigidity, akinesia/bradykinesia, and postural instability) with additional features that distinguish them f ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, Mary 1943 births 2012 deaths American women's volleyball players Olympic volleyball players for the United States Volleyball players at the 1964 Summer Olympics Volleyball players at the 1968 Summer Olympics Volleyball players from Los Angeles Sportspeople from Ashland, Oregon Southern Oregon University alumni Neurological disease deaths in Oregon Deaths from multiple system atrophy Volleyball players at the 1963 Pan American Games Volleyball players at the 1967 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1963 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1967 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in volleyball Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in volleyball Cal State Northridge Matadors women's volleyball players