I would like to extend our condolences to Joe and family, and the Future Work Institute family. Linda McIntosh
This memorial website was created by The FutureWork Institute and her family in memory of Mary Lou Perotta who was born on January 2, 1945 and passed away on December 16, 2010. She was a "rock" to her family, the "wind beneath our sails" for those who worked with her and a caring confidant to all her friends. We have added tributes from e-mails we received from her many friends and invite you to light a candle with a testimonial, create a story or a chapter of her life and add photos, so that we may all celebrate her life together.
Tributes
Leave a tributeI would like to extend our condolences to Joe and family, and the Future Work Institute family. Linda McIntosh
To all of Mary Lou's friends and FWI family, I hope you'll spread some love and compassion for others this season in her honor. Caswall Price,Richmond Fed Reserve
I will be there today in spirit and heart as you all attend the services.
With a huge lump in my throat and damp eyes, I have all of you in my thoughts and prayers.
With love,
Karen Vari
Mary Lou's passing reminds us all to live with abundance each and everyday.
The sun will set and the sun will rise. Remembering a friend lasts.
Sylvester Mendoza, Northrop Grumman
Yvette Benjamin
Emily Jones
Alan Richter
John Lynch (CEO of Towers Perrin)
Steve Bookbinder
David Rhodes
Alice Rago
Don Greenhouse
Don Greenhouse
Kathy Callahan
Jill Abbott
Fran Gennuso
Joe Steele
Peggy Healy
Regina Allen
Susan Mannlein
Maria and Harry Schmitz
Linda Freels
Brooke Mayes
Father John Giuliani
Celia Berk, Chief Talent Officer, Young & Rubicam Brands
With Love, Gratitude and Lessons Learned,
Steve
Todd Corley, Senior VP, Diversity, Abercrombie & Fitch
Donna E. Pedro
Senior Partner, Chief Diversity Officer, Ogilvy & Mather North America
Nancy J. Di Dia, Executive Director, Boehringer-Ingelheim
Caswall Price, Diversity,Inclusion and Recruitment Leader, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond
Ron Harrison. Former CDO. PepsiCo
Mona Lau, UBS
Karen Vari, CDO, Flour
Lois Rubin, former Diversity Director, Unilever
John Kirksey, President, National Multicultural Institute
Hayward Bell, CDO, Raytheon
Leave a Tribute
I asked Mary Lou and Hadiyah, "How can I write about sex for 50,000+ people everyday (half my readers were women in the 18-25 range!) when I can't even go out on a date and have fun?"
Hadiyah yelled, "Eric, you can't talk to Mary Lou about this!"
I replied - "Sweetie, she's had (3) children. I'll bet she knows her way around a man's body better than either one of us!"
Mary Lou laughed so hard - she coughed. She reponded, "You know, they might have had different names for it back in my day - but it's all kind of the same!"
She was impossible not to love! XOXO
I hear your voice in my head now, "Are those turkeys still leaving tributes?" and it makes me laugh. I miss your big heart and your gravelly voice and all the laughs we had upstairs at mission control. I think about you so often you would be embarrassed. Love and tacos, me
Sojourners
It was 30 years ago that I first met Mary Lou. I was in new employee coming into a very new and different environment – the very staid and elegant New York Chamber of Commerce. I had all of the apprehensions that one has on their first day. Often folks say that it takes a really long time to feel at “home” in a new workplace. Not true for me on that first day because there I met Mary Lou with that big smile, in her “mama mode” taking care of the latest addition to the group. By the end of the day I knew I was ok and this would be a good home. And it was true because wherever Mary Lou and I worked together she carried that feeling of being at “home” with her.
Over these years Mary Lou and I have shared lots of laughs, some tears and a few fancy words. Unprintable here! She was friend, counselor and master teacher for all of us. A sister……
As will happen, along the way I learned interesting tidbits about Mary Lou. I offer just a few.
Did You Know?
Mary Lou was a history buff - she told me that she loved the Civil War history.
She was interested in the supernatural - we talked about spirits and Ouija boards and such
Napkins make really note pads. They were Mary Lou’s “post-its”. She used them for writing down phone numbers, taking notes and reminders etc.
One of her favorite sayings was “not for nothing.” This was a signal that you needed to listen- up for what was going to follow that phrase.
When Mary Lou’s cheeks were red somebody had better step back. That somebody was in trouble.
Mary Lou did not operate on clock time. Her time was measured in relationships and keeping them. Time was spent in making sure that the job was done - done well - whenever and however long it took.
Piles: Mary Lou’s little mounds of paper and desk top stuff. Folks reacted differently to the piles. Some were astounded; others frustrated and just wanted them to disappear. Some folks were tickled and wondered what treasures might be found in the mound. I confess, I belong to the latter group because I am also a member of that peculiar club.
Mary Lou and I had an exit plan. Whenever we were unhappy, really unhappy, about something we mused about the coffee and doughnut stand we were going to erect on some corner where there were no computers or phones and where people spent less than a minute with you.
And, if you did not know it, Mary Lou’s heart beat for all of us and her lovely hands toiled for us.
So, just as, Mary Lou and I have been sojourned in this life, I expect and look forward to continuing our journey in the next.
Mary Lou for me was the "oak tree" for FWI--that solid tree that never wavered and stood her ground and defended the less extroverted and calmed the over zealous. She always made time for me, whether it was idle time at the airport waiting for the next flight or just sharing my test results on my cancer check-ups--she emailed me in the waiting rooms waiting anxiously for my results, telling me it was all going to be fine. Mary Lou listened no matter how busy she was or whether she was on hold for Car 78 to get Margaret to her next destination or to ensure Margaret signed our expense checks. She was the mothership for all of us. I am so honored to have been one of her many who she cared about and loved. Our world will be void of the wonderful love and concern she brought to all of us. Thank you Mary Lou for living with such grace and grit and for being the friend I will cherish the rest of my days on this earth. Until we meet again...With Love..The very thought of you....fills my heart and soul.
Nancy J. Di Dia, Boehringer Ingelheim USA Corp