Mayo-Giese Founders Society Members Ann and Mary Keenan Support CCS’s Mission

Mary and her sister Ann have been supporters of the Center for Coastal Studies ever since they built their vacation home in Truro in the early 1980s. Their neighbor Dave Thornton introduced them to the Center. Mary, as executor of the estates of Michael Rice and Robert Donovan, worked with then Executive Director Peter Borelli and Dave to establish bequests: Michael’s for the library at the Center and Robert’s for tuition grants for staff.

“My sister and I, from time immemorial, spent summers on the Cape. We’ve always appreciated the special ambiance of the Cape, and it seemed to us the Center for Coastal Studies shared that love and was working to protect the things that are special here,” said Mary. Both are now retired from careers in public school systems. Mary was a history teacher in Lexington, and Ann was an administrator in Braintree.

“When the Mayo-Giese Founders Society was established, we welcomed the idea as a way to continue our support of the Center,” said Mary.

Over the years Mary and Ann have gotten to know and been inspired by many of the staff members at the Center—people like Jooke Robbins, Director of the Humpback Whale Studies Program; Scott Landry, Director of the Marine Animal Entanglement Response Program; and Stormy Mayo, Scientist Emeritus and the Center’s co-founder and former Director of the Right Whale Ecology Program.

“They’re working so hard. Every time we hear about Scott going out to disentangle a whale, I have my heart in my mouth until we hear that he and his crew are home safe,” said Mary.

Ann and Mary enjoy keeping up with news from the Center and reconnecting with staff at events such as the summer reception held for Founders Society members at Wellfleet Preservation Hall. “We’re all on this planet together—and if we don’t start taking care of our fellow creatures, we’ll be in trouble,” said Mary.