THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 2, 1995 TAG: 9501310087
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOAN C. STANUS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 89 lines
Mary Sears never will forget that young woman from St. Croix.
About 10 years ago, Sears was working the front desk at the Downtown Norfolk YMCA hotel one Sunday morning when she noticed the woman pacing back and forth across the lobby.
Concerned, Sears asked if she could help.
Just as so many others had done before, the young woman poured out her heart to the friendly desk clerk.
The St. Croix woman had arrived in Norfolk that morning with $900 and a promise of marriage from a Navy man named Dennis. But at the airport, someone had stolen her money. Now the woman was having trouble getting in touch with Dennis.
Finally, with Sears' help, the woman tracked down the Navy man.
Sears figured that the saga would end there, happily.
But as the pretty St. Croix woman talked to her sweetheart on the phone, the story took a heart-wrenching turn. Dennis already had a wife and six children.
``It was terrible,'' Sears recalled recently. ``I didn't know what to tell her to do but call Navy Relief. I felt so sorry for her.''
During her 22 years manning the Y's hotel desk, Sears has witnessed the full gamut of human drama, comedy, weakness and irony. She has helped the down-and-out, the lost, the displaced, the lonely and the broken-hearted.
And for everyone, she has had a smile, a warm greeting and a willingness to listen.
``I've seen it all ... and heard it all,'' she admits with a shy smile. ``I'm like the bartender; people will just lay stuff on me. They seem to take me into their confidences for some reason. I am a good listener. I listen to everything and everybody. And I care. I really do.''
To Y patrons and fellow employees, for decades Sears had been the mainstay of the place, the loving matriarch.
But in December, when Y officials decided to close the hotel portion of the facility, Sears retired from her job as head desk clerk.
``I had been thinking about retiring,'' Sears admitted. ``This just seemed like the right time.''
``She's our mom,'' noted Pam Kitterman, a former associate director at the Y who keeps in close touch with Sears. ``She is very compassionate; she really cares about people. And she's one of the wisest women I know. This has not been just a job for her. When she greets people, she really wants to know how they're doing. She's going to be missed here.''
A Norfolk native, Sears first came to the Y in the early '70s as a part-time desk clerk. She worked the night shift, from 11 p.m to 7 a.m. Some mornings, after leaving work at the Y, she would head to another part-time job, substitute teaching English at Norfolk middle and high schools.
When the head clerk retired at the Y a few months later, Sears, a single mother of two sons, was offered the job. She had been at the Y ever since.
``I've been here for five directors, and I've seen a lot of changes,'' Sears recalled. ``The best part of this job has been meeting all the people from all over the world. Some of them would remember me when they'd come back. One doctor from Egypt even brought me back a gold bracelet and invited me to visit him if I ever got to his country.''
Sears has taken many of the hotel guests under her maternal wing, especially ones who have needed a helping hand.
``One old gentleman had suffered a stroke,'' Sears recalled. ``It took him an hour to go from the lobby to the corner. He didn't like to go out, and he'd stay up in that room all day. Me and some of the other employees would buy him some food and take it up there.
``No matter how much we'd buy, he'd eat up everything in one day. The next day, there'd be nothing left. Boy, he loved to eat.''
Through the years, Sears kept a journal of the wild parties, unusual people and crazy stories of the Y's happenings. After taking a few trips and taking care of some domestic chores, she plans to to write a book based on her recordings.
``There's so many stories,'' said Sears, who now lives in Virginia Beach and is the grandmother of four. ``I haven't gone back to read over it yet. While I was still working, every time I sat down to read it, something else juicy would happen. There was always something exciting happening around here. It was an exciting place to be.''
Even though she's sad about ending her tenure at the facility, the woman with deep-set brown eyes and quick smile maintains her presence still will be felt at the Y.
``I'm getting into an exercise program,'' Sears said. ``I'll be here all the time to see my good friends.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by JIM WALKER
In her 22 years of working the desk at the Downtown Norfolk YMCA
hotel, Mary Sears has witnessed the full gamut of human drama and
emotion.
by CNB