Nature Retreat Center dedicated in honor of Mary Sinish
Nature Retreat Center dedicated in honor of Mary Sinish
Philanthropist had strong ties to area
By GARRETT NEESE, DMG Writer
HOUGHTON — Nothing came easy for Mary Sinish.
But that’s where the tenacity came in. How a woman who struggled to pull Cs earned a master’s degree. And how she made sure the land and the programs she loved would still be there when she wasn’t.
The fruits of that tenacity were honored Saturday in two dedications; that of the Marsin Nature Retreat Center in Stanton Township and the naming of the Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly building in Hancock in her honor.
The Retreat Center covers 16 acres and 900 feet of shoreline by the Portage Waterway. It adjoins the 40-acre Marsin Preserve, which was donated to the Keweenaw Land Trust in 2001.
Sinish had deep family ties in the Keweenaw, where her grandfather, Swaby Lawton, had been an attorney, and his brother, Charles, was a mine superintendent. She spent her summer vacations here as a child.
In 1995, she inherited part of the Marsin property. Looking to keep it preserved, she met with Rob Terrian, who would become the property’s trust manager.
Working with such a small piece would be difficult, he advised. So she worked to buy 40 adjoining acres. She presented him with the news capped by the exclamation “OK, what next.”
“I learned really quickly, do not underestimate her,” he said.
She established the Marsin Forest Grove Conservatory in 1999 with the goal that it would become a retreat to enjoy, preserve and learn about nature. Two years later, she donated the land to the Keweenaw Land Trust.
She was working toward donating the additional 16 acres when she died in 2005. The Keweenaw Land Trust worked with her estate to finish the deal.
“It truly is a diamond ... a diamond that now needs to be polished and shaped, and should ultimately become a very special place in the Keweenaw,” Terrian said.
The center will be available as a meeting space for group retreats and other nature-based activities. Included in Sinish’s donation are two residences and outbuildings, as well as various boats and vehicles.
Keweenaw Land Trust Executive Director Evan McDonald called upon those present to continue working with her vision.
“Let’s help the tree grow into a big strong tenacious oak that’s going to outlive all of us, because I think that’s what Mary would have wanted,” he said.
In a tree-planting ceremony, friends of Mary took turns shoveling mounds of soil onto witch-hazel and high-bush cranberry.
John Garber, a close friend of Sinish’s who would often dogsit for her, was among those looking over the land.
“I think it’s beautiful, and it’s exactly what Mary would have wanted,” he said.
The same thing could have been said at Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly, but for a different reason.
Sinish had donated before. But it wasn’t until her death that the group learned she had donated $100,000 for the naming rights to the building.
“It was a godsend,” Garber said. “It’s just great. And we’re so thankful to Mary for thinking of us.”
The money is being used on capital improvements, such as a paved parking lot, programs and new vans. Those vans take senior citizens to Marquette General Hospital. Soon, said Board President John Van Westenberg, they might also be taking them on field trips to the preserve.
Her stepson, Jerry Sinish, made the 8.5-hour drive with his family from Cedar Lake, Ind. It was a day he thinks she would have enjoyed.
“Between this and the conservancy, I’m sure she’s looking down with a smile right now,” he said.
Garrett Neese can be reached at gneese@mininggazette.com.
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