Mary E. Topping

BARRE – Dr. Mary Elaine (Harvey) Topping died in her sleep on April 10 at the Rowan Court Nursing Home after a massive heart attack.
Born on May 17, 1931 in the family home at 57 Harvey Hill Road in Plainfield, she was the 10th of the 12 children of Robert L. and M. Edith (Shorey) Harvey.
Mary graduated from Plainfield High School where she was on the basketball team. Her ambition to “Climb Every Mountain” is expressed in her beloved “Sound of Music”. She became a virtuoso vocalist under the personal guidance of Mr. Marston York at Plainfield High School where she starred in their production of Iolanthe. Mary received a bachelor’s degree from Goddard College in Plainfield and subsequently received a non-traditional PhD in Education from Walden University’s Delaware branch. She received a traditional PhD in Educational Leadership from the University of South Florida in Tampa. For years she evaluated the effectiveness of educational programs under the Florida Safe and Drug-Free School Program. Dr. Topping published several scientific papers and gave talks at major symposia on topics such as the “Imposter Phenomenon” in which successful people cannot take rightful credit for their valid achievements and fear that they will be found out as mere imposters. Her Imposter Phenomenon was expanded and introduced to an international audience in 1985 by her sister-in-law, Dr. Joan C. Harvey, in a widely acclaimed book (St. Martin’s Press) and lecture tour (including Joan Lunden’s “Good Morning America”).
She married Mr. John R. Topping on September 11, 1951 and when he was called to military duty in Germany Mary accompanied him and obtained a position with the military establishment there. Mary continued her interest in music by signing in the choir at Stuttgart and Karlsruhe. She was a life-long advocate for women’s rights; her favorite saying being “God is great; she knows what she is doing!” Mary and John later moved to Apollo Beach, Florida and then to Plant City, Florida.
Upon retirement, Mary and John returned to Plainfield where she fulfilled her dream of living in a log home with a view of the Marshfield Hills and Spruce Mountain. She led a campaign to repair the pipe organ in Plainfield’s Grace United Methodist Church that is the principal object of Reverend Arthur Wentworth Hewett’s book, “Steeples among the Hills” which is still in print.
She is survived by her grandchildren: Christopher, Charles, Jackie, Richard, Jennifer and Anna; also by 5 siblings, Barbara (Holland) Mayer, Florence Marsha, Dorothy Knowles, William Harvey, and Fred Harvey. Finally, she is survived by 8 great grandchildren and many nieces and nephews, most notably her principal caregivers, Diane and Patricia Holland.
Dr. Topping was predeceased by her husband, John Topping, and her sons, John and Richard Topping as well as 6 sisters, Priscilla Harvey, Ruth Kenyon, Irene Kelley, Alice Harvey, Frances Ackoury, and Marguerite Mariotti.
The public is invited to a memorial service at Mary’s gravesite in the Plainfield Center Cemetery on East Hill at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, May 15. Donations in her memory may be sent to the Vermont Philharmonic Orchestra, PO Box 425, Montpelier, VT 05601. Mary Topping will be sorely missed but her memory will live on in the minds and hearts of those of us who knew and loved her.