Mary Harkrader follows the  trail along cliffs edge. HOI Sierra Club Starved Rock winter hike, January 1979. Photo: Al Harkrader. Click here or the picture above for a larger image.

Heart of Illinois Group Sierra Club Honors Her Legacy and Celebrates Her Life 1935-2021.

For those who had the delight of seeing Mary Harkrader auction a wild variety of items at the HOI summer picnic fund-raisers, her unique talent to turn something plain into amazing, with a load of humor added in, was a hoot and a half. If you were ever on one of the winter Starved Rock State Park hikes lead by Mary and her husband Al, her joy in the outdoors was clear from the start. For those who heard Mary in action at an issue meeting or public hearing, there was never a doubt that her facts and focus would get results. Her dry humor regularly livened up a long meeting and you could count on a story or two about some other daunting effort that by gosh, got done.

Over the decades, Mary dedicated herself to a range of environmental and social issues. Her efforts were key in saving the Rock Island Trail in the years of legislative finagling with the attempt to turn the land back to local landowners. Mary served the community in many ways from being a nurse, to being on the Peoria County Board, being County Clerk, and on many important committees of all kinds. Her volunteer projects from tutoring to being a leader in recycling and an advocate for women’s rights, span back to the 1960s.

While we celebrate her amazing life, it is with a heavy heart that we consider her passing as one of the few of the earliest HOI Group Activists who were still carrying on. Our sympathy and condolences go to her family. We thank Representative Jehan Gordon-Booth for entering Illinois House Resolution HR 0085 in her honor.