Mary Fischer died peacefully in her sleep on Monday, Feb. 9, at the Falmouth Hospital following a brief stay. She was 66.

Mary Ann Fischer was born at the Oak Bluffs Hospital on April 18, 1948. She started her life in the big farmhouse on Flat Point Farm in West Tisbury, which first got an electrical connection to the grid that same year. Mary joined her big sister Eleanor, parents Arnold and Priscilla and grandparents Albert and Ethel in the big house.

After two more sisters were born the house was too small for all the generations living together. Arnold and Priscilla built a small house down the road for the growing family. For a time, the four sisters shared one bedroom.

Mary’s early years were spent living on an old-fashioned dairy farm. There were chores and gardens. There were cats and dogs and horses. There was swimming and ice skating on the Great Pond. Life on the Vineyard was much more simple in the 1950s.

After graduating third in her class, the class of 1965 from Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, Mary attended Colby College in Waterville, Me. It was there that a life of battling bipolar disorder reared its ugly head.

She returned home to the Vineyard. She was the beneficiary of Dr. Milton Mazer’s psychiatric care. Mary was actually a guinea pig for lithium treatment for what was termed back then manic depression.

She soon returned to complete her college degree from Windham College in Putney, Vt.

She lived in Boston for a time with her sister Nancy, became an astrologist and did people’s personal charts. Under her pen name Mariah Plum she wrote monthly astrology reports. Starscrolls were sold at grocery checkouts to the general public. She said she was paid for doing Starscrolls by a shady guy with cash.

Mary returned to the Vineyard and struggled to keep on an even path, going through good periods and then having episodes of bad.

Over the years, she worked in a number of jobs on the Island. She worked at Farmer Green’s (now Fiddlehead Farm), baked cookies at Humphrey’s Bakery and delivered milk for old Fred Fisher at Nip ’n’ Tuck Farm. She worked for Clambake Bill Smith at the Airport Restaurant, and then at the Chappaquiddick Beach Club. She sold tickets for the Steamship Authority, working with old Howie Leonard in the Oak Bluffs terminal. She cooked for Haynes Restaurant (now State Road). For a time she worked at the old West Tisbury library and the current West Tisbury School library.

Interested in food, Mary returned to further her education at Johnson and Wales School in Rhode Island. She became a foodie before there was a word for it. For a time, she did private cooking for folks, including Michael Straight in Chilmark.

Later on, though she had a hard time keeping order in her own life, she became a home health aide. She was good at helping other people to keep clean and organized.

Mary always enjoyed school and learning new things.

As time went by, the years of treatment and struggle took their toll. Mary needed real care. She was admitted to a nursing home in Falmouth. The next 10 years were really a positive for her. She embraced being cared for and feeling safe. She was fast friends with the nursing home staff and van drivers who drove her to Mashpee three days a week for dialysis.

Mary read the Boston Globe every day, with particular interest in food articles. She became an avid Red Sox fan at the times of their great success. She also became a Patriots and Bruins fan. She kept up with political and pop news.

To visit her in the nursing home was a treat for any friend or family member. The conversations were long and lively. The time of the visit went by quickly and there was never enough time to cover all the topics.

She never complained about any aspect of living in the nursing home.

Mary was predeceased by her parents and sister, Nancy. She is survived by her sister Eleanor Neubert, sister Jean O’Reilly and brother in law Tim, and brother Arnie and sister in law Christa. She leaves six nieces, three nephews, one grandniece and four grandnephews.

Mary was a red and black Woolrich jacket. She was Bob Dylan and the Beatles. She was Marlboro cigarettes, Schlitz beer then Rolling Rock. She loved her shack and spot in the woods. She loved cats. Her family and friends will miss her.

A memorial service will be held at a future date.