Mary Virginia Kimberly Rau transitioned from this mortal coil on December 1, 2022 at the age of 96.

Mary was born in Columbus, Ohio and grew up in the shadow of Ohio State University, where her beloved father, Emerson, taught electrical engineering for many decades. She was a passionate Buckeye.

After graduating herself from OSU, Mary relocated to Washington, D.C. where she worked as a medical administrator for a practice in Georgetown.

In the early 1950s, she married a young naval officer named Charles Rau, and put her professional ambitions aside to be a wife and mother. They eventually had two children – Kathy in 1955 and Michael in 1958.

After 15 or so years as a globetrotting Navy family, the Raus settled in Virginia Beach. Mary wanted to pursue professional challenges and acquired her real estate license.

After Mary and Charles divorced in 1974, Mary worked for a few more years in real estate, but eventually decided that she didn’t like sales. She then became program coordinator for Tidewater Rape Information Services (TRIS), which eventually was brought under the wing of the YWCA and became RESPONSE. Finally, after burning out somewhat, Mary left that job and returned to her roots – becoming administrator of a medical practice, where she stayed until she retired.

Arguably, Mary’s biggest impact was as a political activist. She was an ardent feminist who worked tirelessly behind the scenes on issues that were important to her. She was a founder of the Women’s Political Roundtable, and was active with the American Association of University Women (AAUW) and the League of Women Voters (LWV). Although she was never particularly active with party politics, Mary was chosen to be a delegate for Jesse Jackson when he sought the presidential nomination in 1984.

Mary was an avid horsewoman until she was thrown while riding and broke her back. She was also a world traveler, having taken several trips overseas with friends.

She was a skilled genealogist and was a major participant in recent documentation of the history of the Kimberly family.

In her later years, Mary remained very active. She particular enjoyed spending time with beloved friends at a weekly bridge game, as well as a monthly book club.

Mary was predeceased by her father, Emerson E. Kimberly, and mother Grace (nee Hill). She is survived by her daughter Kathleen Tolley (Dwayne) of Sparta, Wisconsin, and her son Michael Rau of Virginia Beach, Virginia. She would also want to acknowledge a special relationship with Richard Gordon of Virginia Beach – one of Mike’s oldest friends with whom she grew very close and who provided her with much companionship in her later years.

The family wishes to acknowledge and express their gratitude to Dr. John Parker, her amazing cardiologist who kept her heart working much longer than it should have, to Dr. Tammis Seipel, her primary care physician who helped maintain her overall health, to Home Instead, which provided wonderful personal home health aides to care for her as he time wound down, and finally to Amedisys Home Health Care, which provided her with loving hospice care.

Mary outlived most of her close friends, and felt it would be a burden to ask those left to attend a funeral, so she opted not to have one. Her son will spread her ashes at the location of her choice next spring, and anyone who wishes to attend will be welcome.

In lieu of flowers or other such frivolities, Mary asked that anyone wishing to do something in her memory make a donation to the Virginia Beach SPCA.