Mary "Gererdene" Gibbons was born Jan 20, 1955 in Dublin, Ireland.  Her mother named her after Saint Gerard, the patron saint of childbirth, after suffering seven miscarriages prior to her successful birth.  She grew up in the small village of Keadue, Ireland in County Roscommon where she was a championship Irish dancer with a mantle full of trophies and also rowed for the Carrick-On-Shannon rowing club.

She attended University College Dublin and graduated with a degree in Business as well as a teaching certification.  She taught secondary school for one year in Raphoe followed by 13 years teaching commerce in Balbriggen, Ireland.

She met her husband, Dennis O'Doherty, on the island of Karpathos in Greece while both were traveling.  They were married on April Fool's Day 1986 in the Fulham Registry Office in London.  After honeymooning for six months in India and Nepal they relocated to Portland, Oregon where she eventually became a US citizen.

She worked for twenty-seven years in International Marketing for Frye Electronics and later for Welch-Allyn.  She gave birth to two daughters, Megan (in 1990) and Caili (1992), and lived in Tigard, Oregon until her death.  She loved writing and had published stories and articles in Irish and English magazines in her younger years. She was also a voracious reader and was never without a book nearby. She loved reading biographies and was obsessed with the English royalty, depite having the usual Irish disdain for England as a whole. She was an accomplished cook and loved nothing better than to host a gathering and cook all the food.  She watched cooking shows and read cookbooks avidly.  She was also a bit obsessed with cats and loved to send and receive cat videos and was delighted whenever a cat was around.

After seven and a half years with cancer she eventually succumbed and is now at peace.  She is survived by her husband, Dennis, her daughters Megan and Caili and their husbands Cory and Steven, one granddaughter, Aoife, as well as a grandson, Phineas, soon to arrive in a few weeks.

In lieu of flowers, we ask that you consider donating to the Pixie Project or Bradley Angle Shelter as both of these causes were very important to Gererdene. Thank you.