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Mary Lorraine Kangus DeLapp. Wife, Mother, Social Worker, Teacher, age 83, passed away Wednesday, August 12, 2009 in Albuquerque, NM. Mary was a 50+ year resident of Santa Fe, a sociologist and social psychologist, and a well-known Santa Fe civic worker. She was the wife of the late Kenneth D. DeLapp Jr., president and owner of DeLapp Engineering, a consulting firm of civil and structural engineers. Mary was active in the Santa Fe community, serving and leading in a variety of social and political organizations. She was a founding officer of the Santa Fe Junior Women's Club (1955) and of the Las Sembradores Garden Club of Santa Fe (1958). She was serving with the Junior Women's Club when the Santa Fe Girls Club and Headstart programs were initiated. She was runner-up for the title of Mrs. New Mexico. She served on the New Mexico Committee for Public School Needs, and co-chaired the Foster Care Committee of the Santa Fe Community Council. She was active in the American Association of University Women, League of Women Voters, Professional Engineers' Wives, United Methodist Church Board, Santa Fe Women's Club and Library Association, St. Vincent Hospital Auxiliary, Santa Fe Dance Club, and the Santa Fe Opera Guild. With the Santa Fe Women's Club, she participated in the development and founding of the Santa Fe Public Library. She was a flutist with the Rio Grande Symphony and the Santa Fe Symphony Orchestra. She was chairman of the Santa Fe School Ski Program committee, and den mother, Cub Scout Pack 34. At various times, she served as the precinct chairman, county Republican vice-chairman, and on the county and state central committees. She also served as President of the Santa Fe County Republican Women's Club. Mary was a member of the Board of Directors for DeLapp Engineering from 1968 to 2002. Mary was born April 30, 1926, in Mitchell, South Dakota. She grew up there and attended junior high school and prep school with her future husband, Kenneth D. DeLapp, Jr. She played the flute and piccolo in band and orchestra, was the editor of the newspaper, assisted in the high school library, was a National Merit scholar and valedictorian of her class, and worked her way up to librarian in the city library. Upon graduation from high school in 1944, Mary attended MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Illinois. She was the society editor, feature editor, columnist, copy editor and editor of the paper (All American rating), winning prizes in state contests for her features and a fashion advertisement. She was a member of the MacMurray Players theatre group, a flutist in the band, and a member of Alpha Kappa Sigma. During the summers of 1946 and 1947, she worked as a waitress in the Merchant Marines on the SS South American (Chicago, Duluth, & Georgian Bay Line, Detroit, Michigan), cruising the Great Lakes from Toronto, Thousand Islands, and Goderich, to American ports from Buffalo to Duluth. She earned her BA in Sociology in May 1948, married Ken in August 1948, and moved to Detroit where Ken was employed as an engineer. Mary received her Masters degree in Sociology from the University of Michigan in 1950, and was a research fellow with the Social Sciences Research Project for Human Adjustment in Flint, Michigan. She worked as a social worker for the Michigan Children's Institute in Ann Arbor. She completed additional graduate work at the Wayne University School of Social Work in Detroit (1951-52), and Ph.D. course work in psychology at the University of New Mexico (1968 -1974). Mary and Ken moved to Santa Fe in December, 1952, for the express purpose of establishing their civil and structural engineering business. To better support the family business, Mary studied architectural drafting at St. Michael's College, and then designed and supervised a three-room addition to her home. In addition to supporting the building of the business, Mary was an active member of the Santa Fe community as previously noted. She raised four children, and was employed as a social worker and teacher. She was a social work consultant for the Title I Santa Fe Parochial Schools Guidance Service, and a child welfare and adoption worker with the United Protestant Adoption Agency in Santa Fe. She taught Social Psychology at the College of Santa Fe, adult family life classes in her capacity as social worker, as well as Sunday school and other classes at her church. Mary's hobbies and interests included playing the flute, gardening, sewing, cooking, art (painting and tile mosaics), architecture, fishing, camping, and backpacking. She also enjoyed writing and was published by the Denver Post. Mary is survived by her son Kenneth D. DeLapp III and his wife Vicki of Albuquerque; son Winton (Win) J. DeLapp and his wife Patty of Albuquerque; daughter Margot L. DeLapp de Anaya and her husband Frank Anaya of Falls Church, VA; son J. Marsden DeLapp and his wife Susan Hapka of Placitas, NM; daughter-in-law Mary J. (Molly) DeLapp of Albuquerque; four grandchildren -- Nicole J. DeLapp and her husband Kevin Goddard, Kenneth D. DeLapp IV, Susan I. DeLapp, and Marzanne L. DeLapp de Anaya; sister Delores Gilbert and her husband Paul (Gil) of Fort Collins, CO; sister Toivola Kangus of Chandler, AZ; brother Weino "Tug" Kangus and his wife Jo Ann of Page, AZ; sister-in-law LeMay Britain and her husband Maynard (Brit) of Oelrichs, SD; and numerous nieces and nephews and their families. A memorial service will be held at 10:00 am, Thursday, August 20, 2009 at St. John's United Methodist Church, 1200 Old Pecos Trail, Santa Fe, NM. There will be a private interment to follow at a later date at Santa Fe National Cemetery.
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