Mother of 10 struggled against injustice, conflict

Mary Rose Neilson, a community activist who fought for Hansen’s disease patients, for the end of military bombing on Kahoolawe and other causes, died Sept. 14 at her home in Aiea. She was 85.

During the 1970s and ’80s, Neilson and her husband, Joe, were active in a number of causes, including protesting the Vietnam War. Mary Neilson also counseled conscientious objectors as a volunteer for the American Friends Service Committee, her family said.

"She was very sensitive to any kind of injustice," said a close friend, retired physician Fred Dodge. "But she did it often with a smile, and she had this infectious laugh. She could be very disarming but also very insistent."

Neilson, who with her husband raised 10 children, went to Molokai in 1978 to work as a paralegal for the Legal Aid Society, helping welfare recipients, ex-cons and others navigate government assistance programs.

"She found fulfillment in helping people get their lives back on track," said one of her six daughters, Kathleen "Keiki" Koba­ya­shi.

While on Molokai, the Neilsons got to know the Hansen’s disease community in Kalaupapa. In 1983, when the state moved to evict patients Bernard Puni­kaia and Clarence Naia from the condemned Hale Mohalu residential treatment facility in Pearl City, Neilson was among 18 people arrested for refusing to leave the property.

The charge against Neilson was the only one that resulted in a conviction, Dodge recalls.

"By the time she arrived (police) had already barred the entrance, so she went around back and crawled over a fence to get in," he said. "Our charge was obstruction of a government operation, but hers was trespassing. It was the only one that stuck; everybody else got off."

The Neilsons were active with the Protect Kahoolawe Ohana, which sought to end military target practice on the island and have it returned to Native Hawaiian stewardship. Mary Neilson used her background as a paralegal to help get access rights to the island for Hawaiians, her family said. After the Navy formally transferred Kahoolawe to the state in 1994, the Neilsons were among those honored for their efforts.

Neilson was born Mary Rose Barry in 1927 in Manhattan. In 1943, at age 16, she lied about her age to take a job as a junior engine mechanic at Hickam Field, her family said. She met Joe Neilson on an outing with the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club, of which the family were members for many years.

Joe Neilson died in 2008. About 150 people attended a Mass for Mary Neilson on Saturday at the Newman Center at the University of Hawaii.

Gov. Neil Abercrombie expressed his condolences to the family Saturday and issued a proclamation that reads, in part, "Hers was a lifetime of commitment and dedication to a world of peace and reconciliation among all humanity. Mary provided all of us a daily example of kindness, courage and perseverance."

Neilson is also survived by sons Joseph "Joey," David, Paul and Sean; daughters Nora Neilson, Frances Bahrenburg, Theresa Neilson-Harrigan, Rosemary "Rosie" Neilson-Nenezich and Martha "Margie" Memminger; sister Nora Galla­gher; 10 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.