Mary F. Zullas

Mary Flora (Edwards) Zullas, age 95, passed away on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, at Linden Ponds in Hingham. She was the wife of the late Robert (Bob) James Zullas, a former State Police Detective Captain and Brockton Police Sergeant.

Mary was born on November 26, 1930, to Fred T. and Alice Maude (MacEachern) Edwards. Her mother died soon after Mary was born. She was raised in Brockton by her beloved grandmother, Flora MacKenzie, and by her cherished uncle and aunt, John P. and Flora Elizabeth (Betty) (MacEachern) Richardson, and she spent summers in Onset on Cape Cod with her father, his wife Ellen (Ping), and her brother Freddy and sister Carole.

Mary was a top student and graduated from Brockton High School, Class of 1948. She immediately accepted an offer of admission to the New England Deaconess Hospital School of Nursing in Boston, from which she graduated as a Registered Nurse in 1952.

Her career in healthcare took her from being Head Nurse at Brockton Hospital to being Head Nurse at New England Deaconess Hospital (now Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center) in Boston, and then to a position working with Dr. Elliot P. Joslin and teaching nutrition to people with diabetes at the word-renowned Joslin Diabetes Center. She was most proud of and found great fulfillment in her years working with Dr. Joslin and helping those with diabetes to lead full lives. She later provided private duty nursing care and worked with seniors at the Madalawn Nursing Home in Brockton.

In her middle years, Mary devoted herself to raising her family in Brockton. She was always there for her daughter Elizabeth (Betsy) and her son Michael, and for 37 years she provided round-the-clock care and attention for her eldest daughter, Roberta, who was born with Rett Syndrome, a rare genetic neurodevelopmental disorder that causes a severe loss of muscle, speech, and hand function after a period of normal early development.

In her later years, Mary and Bob built a house and moved to Harwich, where she enjoyed a new life with varied interests, including entertaining, cooking, bird watching, gardening, attending craft fairs, and daily trips to Red River Beach in the summer with her boisterous beach-going gang.

Determined to learn and do new things, in her 70’s Mary took computer courses and became quite adept with them. She used her new-found computer skills and her self-taught financial expertise to become Treasurer of Pilgrim Congregational Church in Harwich, and to take a job at the accounting firm of Sanders, Walsh & Eaton in Chatham. She also experienced her first Cruise to Bermuda with Bob, Betsy, son-in-law Dan, and his parents, and had many adventures and laughs that are still recounted years later.

In her 80’s and newly widowed, Mary got her first passport and traveled internationally for the first time - to Brazil with her son, daughter-in-law Marianne, and young granddaughters, to meet the many members of Marianne’s family, whom she in turn hosted in the United States.

In her 90’s, Mary continued to be active in the New England Deaconess Hospital School of Nursing Alumnae Association, as a Head Usher helping residents to attend events at the Linden Ponds Senior Living Community, and as a congregant of the Linden Ponds Community Church. She also continued to enjoy family events, volunteering, entertaining, cooking, watching police/mystery shows, solving word puzzles, and computer games. Most of all, she enjoyed being Grammy to Danny, Melina, and Alyssa, and always attending their theater productions and concerts.

Her family and friends will remember her as nurturing, persistently optimistic and forward-looking, smiling, cheerful, and funny.

Mary is survived by two of her two children, Elizabeth (Zullas) Clague and her husband Daniel of Brockton, and Michael Zullas and his wife Marianne of Milton; three grandchildren, Daniel Freeman Clague of Washington, DC, Melina Alves Zullas of Brunswick, Maine, and Alyssa Alves Zullas of Milton; and many nieces and nephews. She was the mother of the late Roberta Ann Zullas, and the sister of the late Fred T. Edwards, Jr. and the late Carol Hubert.

Visiting hours will be held on Monday, September 28, from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm and on Tuesday, September 29, from 9:00 am to 11:00 am at the Conley Funeral Home, 138 Belmont Street (Rte. 123) Brockton. A funeral service will be on Tuesday, September 29, at 11:00 am, at the Conley Funeral Home, followed by interment in Pine Hill Cemetery in West Bridgewater.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Mary’s memory may be made to the Special Olympics, Attn: Web Gifts, 2600 Virginia Avenue NW, 11th Floor, Washington, DC 20037