women of achievement

Mari Greves

Mari Greves didn’t know that a blind date would change her life. She was an 18-year-old freshman at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, when she met John Greves.

“He says it was love at first sight. He knew that afternoon he was going to marry me,” she says, but it was five years before the couple married in 1970. Thirty-seven years and three grown children later, she calls it the best decision of her life. “He’s my greatest supporter,” Mari says. “He has encouraged me every step of the way. We grew up together.”

They remained in Indiana while John went to medical school and Mari worked as a sales manager for L.S. Ayres, a local department store. Then the couple moved to Portland, closer to John’s hometown of Vancouver. In Portland, Mari worked as a buyer at Meier and Frank and gave birth to their first child, Mollie.

But it wasn’t long before John was part of the Vietnam-era draft. The family moved to Holland where they were stationed at a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) base for two years. Their second daughter Megan was born there. “It was a wonderful time in our lives,” says Mari. “Those opportunities to live abroad really made a difference in how I look at the United States.” She also spent a year in Argentina as a high school exchange student. Both experiences were transforming, she says.

After John’s tour of duty in 1977, the family moved back to Portland where John finished his fellowship at Oregon Health and Science University. After two years, the Greves family moved to Vancouver, and soon Mari gave birth to a son, John.

She quickly fell in love with Vancouver and became an active community volunteer, serving as the homeroom mother in her children’s classrooms, then the school’s carnival chair, and, finally, president of the Parent Teacher Association. “It kept snowballing,” she says, “and it was really empowering.”

Mari has served on the Vancouver School Board for 11 years and is in her third term as president. She has been involved in every Vancouver school levy campaign in the past 24 years, and she serves on the county’s Quality Schools Committee and the Citizens’ Committee for Good Schools. Mari also found time to tutor students in reading for close to 10 years.

“Education is my passion,” she explains, but she’s quick to add that she’s gotten more out of her experience with the school board than she’s given back. “It’s really helped me stretch and grow. I’m constantly learning. I think that’s one of the things I’m most proud of.”

Mari was a member of the YWCA Clark County board of directors for six years, serving as treasurer for five years. She served on the board at the Free Clinic of Southwest Washington for nine years. In 2001, the clinic completed a successful capital campaign and was able to move into its current location in the Jim Parsley Center. “To work on the capital campaign to help find a permanent home for the free clinic was really one of the highlights of my life,” she says.

Mari is also active in the South Cliff Neighborhood Association and in the First Presbyterian Church, where she was a Sunday school teacher for more than 10 years.

It’s hard to believe that Mari considers herself shy. Once terrified of public speaking, she now gives graduation speeches to thousands of students and families. Mari credits her activities and the community with her transformation. “In Vancouver, you feel that you are a part of the community,” she says. “And I really do feel like I’m making a difference.”

If her nomination forms are any indication, she is. As one nominator wrote, “Every person she touches sees a woman of integrity who has chosen to serve her community in every aspect of her life. Her three children reflect her values; her friends admire her accomplishments; the citizens of Clark County benefit from her actions.”

Mari believes individuals have the power to change the world. She’s inspired by people like Val Ogden, retired Washington State Representative, whom she admires for being “fair and even-handed.” “She is one of my all-time heroes and role models,” says Mari. “She makes a difference in the community and in people’s lives in the state.”

She also finds inspiration in her own family. Her three grown children have all pursued careers based on their own passions. Mollie is a pediatrician, Megan is an assistant principal and John is a financial analyst. “I’ve learned so much from my own children and their interests,” she says, calling them her proudest accomplishment. “We are so blessed.” With a passion for helping children, Mari Greves is a woman of achievement who has touched generations of lives throughout Southwest Washington – and beyond.