Mollie Montgomery, kind and loving mother and grandmother who loved to travel and help others, died peacefully at her home in Oak Harbor, Washington, on April 25, 2023, from Parkinson’s disease.  She was surrounded by family.   

Mollie was born on January 31, 1937, in New Concord, Ohio, where her father, Dr. Robert Montgomery was president of Muskingum College and her mother, Ruth Kelley, was a pianist.  Mollie grew up in New Concord and graduated from Muskingum in 1960.  She met her husband Gordon Brunner at the college and they eventually had four children together: Debbie, Jeff, Susan and Julie. 

After college, Mollie worked as a special ed teacher in Pennsylvania.   Mollie and Gordon eventually settled in Darnestown, Maryland where Mollie did the bookkeeping for the family’s Val-Pak business for over 20 years.  She simultaneously raised the four children and managed the household.  She was a loving mother and everyone’s biggest cheerleader. Always home to greet the kids after school, she played an active role in their lives—from Girl Scout leader to helping with homework to attending high school swim and football events.  She was a volunteer parent with the international exchange program AFS, hosting over 10 students while her children were in high school.  She kept in close touch with her German son Bijan for over 40 years. 

Mollie was active in the Darnestown Presbyterian Church and the Oak Harbor Presbyterian Church, organizing fundraising craft fairs and assuming other leadership roles.  She was skilled at crafting and enjoyed making corn husk dolls and assisting with workshops.  She helped raise thousands of dollars for the Oak Harbor Boys and Girls Club by decorating beautiful Christmas trees for the annual Festival of Trees event in Oak Harbor.

Mollie was an avid traveler.   She had the opportunity to travel around the world in 80 days with her parents while still in college.  Later, she and her family enjoyed many trips together.  After her divorce in 1995, Mollie moved to the Pacific Northwest to live near her daughters, but she kept her house in the Florida Keys that she loved and that allowed her to visit her son in Florida more easily.  She took each of her grandchildren on a Roads Scholar trip visiting Italy, France, South Africa, Spain, United Kingdom, and Costa Rica.  On the Harry Potter trip to London, she was the only grandparent who read all of the books and in Costa Rica, in her 70s, she was the only grandmother who did all 12 zip lines!  She travelled on several church mission trips to Rwanda, where she got to see the famous mountain gorillas. 

Mollie will be greatly missed.  The world was a more compassionate and kinder place with her in it.

Survivors include her four children and their spouses:  Debbie (George Thompson) Brunner, Jeff (Arwen) Brunner, Susan (Michael) Briddell, Julie (Joe Gaydos) Brunner, and eight grandchildren: Megan, Sidney, Brandon, Mollie, Ridgely, Hannah, Olivia, Celestine.  Sister and Brother in law: Gail and Ian Baird and two nephews, Dale and Scott Baird, and her second husband Glenn Anthony.  Her first husband Gordon Brunner and nephew Jeff Baird precede her in death.