[Nfbofnc] The passing of Mabel Conder

[Gary Ray]

Gary Ray here.

We truly stand on the shoulders of giants!

Mabel will be missed!

-----Original Message-----
From: NFBofNC [mailto:nfbofnc-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Jerry Moreno
via NFBofNC
Sent: Thursday, October 05, 2017 1:17 PM
To: NFBofNC at nfbnet.org
Cc: Jerry Moreno
Subject: [Nfbofnc] The passing ofMabel Conder

it is with much sorrow that I tell you of the passing of mabel cunder.
 she was instrumental in the formation of our state affiliate. 
Mabel will be sorely missed. Mabel Martin was born in Cleveland County, NC.
January 8th 1928. Her father was a part-time carpenter, and her mother was a
full-time mother of nine. Her entire family pitched in to grow cotton, corn,
and vegetables on the family land to make ends meet. Her early childhood was
during the depression. Even as very young children, Mabel, as well as one of
her sisters, had severe vision problems. Later, to be diagnosed with R.P.
(retinitis pigmentosa), Mabel would become totally blind by her late teens.
As a little girl, she started 1st grade, but unlike most children, she
boarded a bus to go over 200 miles from home to the Governor Morehead School
in Raleigh. She would go months at the time without seeing her family. Her
parents were people of limited means, with no car and many demands of their
time. Even though Mabel describes those years at the residential school as
cruel and difficult, she made many great friends for life there. After
leaving the Governor Morehead School, Mabel moved to Charlotte, which had
many more opportunities for a young blind woman than her rural home. She
found accommodations at the YWCA, and obtained employment running the snack
bar in the basement of Belk's Buyers' Services in downtown Charlotte. She
worked there for the next 7 years. In 1949, she married Don Conder. He was
also legally blind, and they had 2 children, a daughter and a son. She spent
the next several years being a full-time Mom. After her children started
school, she began installing handwoven cane bottoms in antique chairs, which
was something she could do at home and still be around when they needed her.
She also found time to take a sewing class at Central Piedmont Community
College. Despite a constant financial struggle due to limited employment
opportunities available to both her and her husband because of their
blindness, Mabel has had a lifelong dedication to volunteering her time and
efforts to helping others. During that time, Mabel also became much more
active in various organizations that help and provide opportunities to the
blind. After working with the North Carolina Association of Workers for the
Blind for many years, The North Carolina Lions Foundation recognized her as
a leader in the blind community. In 1968, the NCLF appointed her to the
advisory panel responsible for recommendations for the planning and
development of Camp Dogwood, a 42-acre lake front resort that provides
week-long vacations to several hundred blind "campers" each year. Activities
include adapted water sports, boating, fishing, crafts, games, providing all
meals and spacious, comfortable, and handicap accessible accommodations. She
served on the panel for 2 years, and she attended Camp Dogwood until 2017
with a group of friends who get together for two or three weekends
throughout the year at the camp. In 1969, she was involved with the
establishment of the Charter of the North Carolina affiliate of the National
Federation of the Blind. She was passionate about their mission to provide
equality and opportunity for the visually impaired and blind. She worked
tirelessly, serving in several Officer and Board positions at the state
level for over three decades, and was awarded the Clarence Collins award for
her dedication and accomplishments: (an award given only 4 times in the
history of the organization.) Although she had retired from participation in
the State affiliate, she always remained active in the Mecklenburg Chapter.
After her children reached an age that didn't require constant supervision,
Mabel returned to the outside work force. After a difficult battle to
overcome the stigma of hiring a blind person that existed in the private
sector at that time, she was given an opportunity by GAF Corporation. She
worked processing photos in a dark room, and proved herself as well as the
abilities of blind people by consistently exceeding production by
unprecedented levels. After 6 years there, she pursued a better opportunity
in the same field with Eckerds Corporation. Even while working full-time
(3rd shift), she found time to become involved with the Metrolina
Association for the Blind (MAB) in Charlotte. In 1977, she started serving
on the Board of Directors as not only the first blind person, but also the
first woman ever to serve on the MAB Board. At that time, MAB had a Director
and only 3 employees and because of an absence of services being provided,
the organization was about to lose its funding. After she went on the Board,
MAB was completely restructured, and has consistently grown into the agency
it is today. Serving as the President of the Board of Directors twice, she
has helped guide MAB to become the world class agency it is now! With over
40 employees, MAB provides dozens of services to hundreds of blind and
visually impaired people. Also, it has become more and more self-funding.
She served on the MAB Board for almost 3 decades. During this time, she
never missed a board meeting or committee meeting to which she was assigned.
In 2005, she was awarded the Association's most coveted honor, The Spivey
Award. She was the 2nd of only 3 award winners of this 83-year-old
association. Sometime around 1984, Mabel's work at Eckerd's, her volunteer
work with the NFB and MAB, and her daily tasks as a homemaker obviously
became boring to her, so she became more passionately dedicated to an
endeavor than ever before: BRIDGE! She joined the Charlotte Bridge
Association and played at 10:00am every Thursday morning. She was a shark!
She consistently won, playing with the best players around. She accumulated
enough "points" to be a "master", but didn't take them, because, in her
words, "Those people play for blood! I love to play for FUN!" About the same
time, she also improved her already exceptional Braille writing skills by
taking a proofreading course from the Library of Congress, to become a
certified Braille teacher. In 1988, Mabel fell, and broke her shoulder.
After many complications, including a failed prosthesis, the doctors had
serious doubts that she would ever have much use of her right arm and hand
again. Also, severe back problems prompted a doctor to tell her many years
ago that she would be in a wheelchair within 6 months. However, the fighter
that she was, she far exceeded expectations in both cases. She has said on
many occasions that her orthopedic problems have been much more of a
handicap to her than her blindness has ever been. Her physical limitations
forced her to retire from Eckerd's. After spending her entire life "on the
move" the last few years, she spent a lot more time in her easy chair.
Though many people would be very content with the easy-chair lifestyle,
Mabel found it frustrating. But she found many things to do within range of
that chair: she volunteered giving Braille lessons to adults who lost their
sight, and preparing recordings of the Sunday services at her church for
those who are too disabled to attend. She also pursued her hobbies such as
caring for her tropical plants, crocheting, canning vegetables from the
garden, cooking, reading, and more. She was an avid reader, and loved books
on tape. If you called on her, it was not unusual to find her sitting in her
easy chair, crocheting, with clothes in the dryer and a pot roast on the
stove. If asked "What are you doing?" She would reply, "Reading a book,
doing laundry, making a baby blanket, and cooking dinner. You know the same
thing I always do" Multi-tasking like that, she could still accomplish more
in a day than almost anybody. After crocheting afghans, scarves, sweaters,
and more for almost everyone she knew several years ago she started making
afghans and "chemo hats" for The Levine Children's Hospital. She completed
over 250 afghans and over 350 hats. Mabel's lifelong dedication to
accomplishment made her an inspiration to almost everyone that knew her. Her
Journey came to an end at the age of 89. She passed away suddenly on October
1st, 2017 in Charlotte, NC with her children at her side. She is preceded in
death by her parents, Richard Bennett Martin and Buena Grigg Martin; her
brother, Jim Martin; and her sisters, Mildred Martin, Ruth Scism, Shirley
McKee, Joan Bridges, Inez Whitaker, and Dorothy McDonald. She is survived by
her sister, Irene Mizell; her son, Richard Conder; her daughter, Ellen
Hartgrove and son-in-law Bill; Elizabeth Bethea, her long-time caretaker and
dear friend, and Dale Black, dear friend. If you would like the honor her by
continuing her selfless work for the blind and visually handicapped, you can
make a donation to The National Federation of the Blind of Mecklenburg
County, 8301 Meadow Lakes Dr., Charlotte, NC 28210, or the Metrolina
Association for the Blind, 704 Louise Avenue, Charlotte, NC 28204. 
> 
> 

Jerry

Sent from my iPhone
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