Memorial Service for Mimi Asbury

[Shawn Greene]

A memorial service will be held for my mother in law, Mimi Asbury on Saturday, January 5 at 2:00 pm at the First Unitarian Church of Chicago, 5650 S. Woodlawn Avenue.  A reception will follow afterward at her apartment at Vista Homes.

Here is Mimi's obituary:

Marie (Mimi) Asbury, age 78, died peacefully at home on December 4, 2018 surrounded by family. She was born in Greenwich, CT and grew up with 3 brothers. Mimi attended Riverside Elementary and Greenwich Academy and received her BA in political science from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.  She met her future husband Joseph George Asbury in Germany and they married in 1968.  The two settled in Hyde Park to work and raise a family. Mimi's first job was with the University of Chicago Library but she soon moved on to a leadership role with the Hyde Park Kenwood Community Conference, where she was a key participant in their Whistle Stop personal safety campaign.   After several years she took a position as a real estate agent with Century 21 Kennedy, Ryan, & Monigal on 55^thand Lake Park, where she worked for over 30 years as an agent and office manager.

Mimi had a deep passion for community service and loved her neighborhood.  She was a den mother for the Cub Scout and Girl Scout troops in which her children participated.  When her kids swam on the South Shore YMCA Swim Team, Mimi served in various roles with the South Shore Stars, including acting as team treasurer, training as a judge, timing races, transporting kids and raising funds. She was active on the Ray School PTA, and was a founding member and president of the Friends of Kenwood Academy, where she worked tirelessly to secure the land which became the athletic field for the high school. Over the years, Mimi served as president, treasurer, and fund raising chair for the Comer Children’s Hospital Service Committee, and was treasurer for the University of Chicago Service League.  She kept the books and prepared and served meals for the Southwest Chicago PADS homeless shelter.  She was the treasurer of the Nichols Park Advisory Council and served on the boards of the 4th on 53rd and  the Hyde Park Co-op Supermarket. Mimi was an avid gardener and for decades was a member of the Hyde Park Garden Fair committee, serving at times as treasurer. She studied with the TreeKeepers and participated in the creation of several public gardens in the Hyde Park and Kenwood area. She strived to grow beauty wherever she was. In short, she was a lynchpin of her community.

In her friendships, Mimi was devoted. According to one of her oldest friends, “Mimi was the kindest, most selfless person I have ever known.” As a parent and grandmother, she was second to none. Mimi is predeceased by her husband Joseph and her brother James McCrea. She is survived by two brothers, Wolcott Kenyon and Charles McCrea, her son Joseph, daughter Katrin, and three grandchildren, Kestrel, Flora, and Marlowe.