Mary Hilton Mendez

Our beloved Mary...wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, cousin, and friend, passed away peacefully at her home on November 25, 2024, surrounded by her loving family. She is now, and will forever be, sorely missed. 

Mary was born in Hartford, Connecticut, to Raymond Hilton and Elisabeth Hilton (Nason) on March 5, 1950, their third child after siblings Raymond and Jane. They moved to Barrington, Rhode Island, when she was 11 and she taught herself to swim at the town beach. She maintained lifelong friendships that she cherished from her days in both in Connecticut and Rhode Island. Mary enjoyed her years in Rhode Island, attending summer camp at the Episcopal Conference Center, where she would later return with her daughter and grandchildren for Family Camp decades later.

She graduated from Barrington High School in Rhode Island and attended the University of Rhode Island for a year, where she also met lifelong friends. She always had a sense of independence and adventure, and her free spirit led her to hitchhike around Europe at age 21. She also hitchhiked to Woodstock and loved to share that tale! Traveling with her soul dog, Googie, her desire for warm weather eventually led her to Key Largo, which would become home for the next 48 years. When she first arrived, she lived at a campground, America Outdoors, where Playa Largo is today. Mary fell in love with Rick Mendez and they married on March 22, 1979, in Key Largo, where they raised 3 children.

Known to some as Mangrove Mary, she loved her mangrove swamp near her home, caring for it by picking up trash in the woods to help keep it beautiful for over 40 years. Mary worked as a waitress, teacher's aide, cashier at the Shopper, and retired after 25 years as a mail carrier at the Key Largo Post Office. She often got reprimanded for being "too slow" at work, but she lived life her way and was only concerned with doing her best and caring for her customers. If she noticed she hadn't seen a mail customer in a while, she would get out and check on them, which saved a life more than once.

Mary was a friend to all, she loved visiting with the people on her route, and also loved travelling to see friends and family near and far. Before GPS, she would study her large atlas and plan her next road trip. Dreaming of her next vacation was how she got through long, hot days delivering the mail! She was selfless and kind, driving homeless people to Key West on occasion, and welcoming people into her home when they needed a place to stay for a while, be it on the couch or in the yard in a tent. She fiercely loved her family and was a rock, the glue that held it all together. We, her family, were honored to care for her and love her in her final months. A fall in August 2023 complicated her Parkinson’s Disease and led to her decline. She cared for us our whole lives, and it was time for us to care for her. The day before she died, we took her to one of her favorite places: Pennekamp State Park. Before she had a car, she would bike there with her kids, and it brings us a great deal of comfort to know that some of her last memories were there, with us, all together.  Some of her greatest joys in life were being a mother and grandmother and her love will live on in her children and grandchildren. 

Mary is survived by her husband, Rick Mendez; her children, Orion Mendez, Storm Mendez, and Melanie Valle; her grandchildren, Cloud Mendez, Nason Valle, and Liam Valle; and her siblings, Raymond Hilton (Pamela Hilton) of Maine and Jane Kalchik (Tom Kalchik) of Arizona. She has many extended family and friends who will remember her warmth and love. She was preceded in death by her parents, Raymond and Elisabeth Hilton.

Mary’s wish was to "have a big party," so a memorial service/party will be held on March 23rd in Key Largo. The family wishes to extend their gratitude to family and friends and the hospice team who supported them as they cared for her at home during the last year of her beautiful life.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Episcopal Conference Center at www.eccri.org/support— to help to ensure ECC will continue to transform lives, and be a safe space for all, for generations to come.

Or to Friends of John Pennekamp State Park at https://pennekampparkfriends.org/ to support vital conservation efforts, educational programs, and park improvements.