10/09/2025
It is with a heavy heart that I must share the very sad news that Mary Thurston - our beloved friend and historian of Hartsdale Pet Cemetery - passed away unexpectedly in August. I recently attended her Celebration of Life Service that took place in Austin, Texas where she called home.
All who knew and loved Mary will agree that her personality was as big as the state of Texas. She was witty. She was smart. She loved to laugh. She was thoughtful, kind and generous. She loved animals. She loved history, photography and writing. And, most of all Mary loved Hartsdale Pet Cemetery from the very first time she visited in the 1990’s. It wasn’t long after that fateful visit that she informed the director (my father) that she was hiring herself to be our historian. The contributions she made during her 30-year tenure in that position are immeasurable.
Mary’s biggest accomplishment as our historian was getting Hartsdale listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012. To give you an idea of just how big of a deal that is, Hartsdale is the only pet cemetery to have that distinction. It was Mary’s idea to apply and she did the work practically single-handedly. The application itself was intimidatingly voluminous and required close attention to detail similar to the effort one would need to put forth in writing a dissertation for a doctorate’s degree but Mary persevered due to her deep passion, her tenacious work ethic and her eloquent writing skills. Always modest and ever the jokester, Mary credited much of her success to tequila which she referred to as her “medicine.”
During her research Mary made significant discoveries about the history of America’s first pet cemetery. One of those discoveries was the origin of how the cemetery was started. For over a century it was believed that Dr. Samuel Johnson, a NYC veterinarian, was the sole founder. However, Mary’s research revealed that there was an additional founder named Emily Berthet whose name had been lost in the mists of time.
Mary continued her research long after the National Register accomplishment. She would regularly call or email me bursting with excitement about possible leads to new historical discoveries. One such discovery was locating the oldest surviving monument. For years, it was believed that a monument dedicated to “Dotty” with a date engraved of 1899 was the oldest. However, Mary’s research revealed that another monument dedicated to Blague which did not have the date engraved on it was installed one year earlier in 1898.
If you look around the cemetery you will see the loving touches of Mary Thurston everywhere. She personally cared for our most historic features as if they were her children. On her annual visits, among many other things she could be seen precariously climbing on a ladder to apply chemical treatments to the bronze German Shepherd sculpture that sits on top of Hartsdale‘s famous War Dog Memorial – the first public memorial to honor military dogs that was first unveiled in 1923. She called it the “Crown Jewel of Hartsdale.”
Mary’s southern charm and deep knowledge of Hartsdale’s fascinating history made her perfectly suited to lead the tours we occasionally hosted – a role she enjoyed immensely.
Mary headed up Hartsdale’s Heritage Fund which was established to receive donations that are earmarked to cover the costs of preservation, restoration and beautification of our historical features that are not covered by our general fund. To help further that goal, Mary wrote and designed all of our annual newsletters for our donation drives and sent personal thank you notes and gifts to many of our generous donors. She was one of the most eloquent writers I ever met. She took such pride in her writing and was always tinkering with words and sentences until they met her own self-imposed strict standards of excellence. Every time Mary sent what she promised was the “Final” draft of the annual newsletter she would follow up with an email to me – usually with a time stamp at 2 AM - informing me that she was attaching a revised version that was “truly final.” This went on repeatedly until I declared “Pencils Down.” Only then would she yield. It became our running joke.
Not surprisingly, Mary was an accomplished author. She wrote the book, "The Lost History of the Canine Race” which was published in 1996. She also contributed articles for many animal publications over the years and helped me with the historical book about Hartsdale Pet Cemetery that I authored in 2010 titled, “The Peaceable Kingdom in Hartsdale.” Mary’s most recent writing was published in the Metropolitan Diary Section of the New York Times on July 5, 2025 – just one month before she died. The story relates Mary’s experience of traveling to Hartsdale for the very first time to attend our 100-year anniversary in 1996. It is posted in the picture collage.
Not only was Mary a big part of Hartsdale Pet Cemetery’s family but I considered her to be part of my own family. She was like a big sister to me. And, she called my parents, “Mama Ginny” and “Dad.” We will miss her very much.
Mary’s ashes will be interred at Hartsdale Pet Cemetery – the place she loved so much – in a plot she chose many years ago. She will rest in eternity with the ashes of her parents and her beloved pets.
Rest in peace sweet, Mary. We love you.
Edward C. Martin, III
Vice President - Hartsdale Pet Cemetery
