Mary Louise (Graham) Osmers died peacefully at Windemere Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Oak Bluffs on Nov. 29 at the age of 89.

Mary Louise was born at home in Vineyard Haven on Jan. 19, 1922. She was the third child and first daughter of Susie Bell (Sands) Graham and Rev. James Harlow Graham, the pastor of the Island Methodist Churches. Mary Louise lived on Martha’s Vineyard and attended the Island schools for most of her early education.

Mary Louise received a scholarship to attend DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind., and graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in English in 1943. Following graduation she moved to New York city and worked on the editorial staff of McGraw-Hill Publishing Company. During a temporary assignment to the Wall Street Journal, Mary Louise met her future husband and native New Yorker, Robert A. Osmers. They married in New York city in 1949 and settled in Queens, N.Y., to raise their five children.

Out of deep affection for Martha’s Vineyard, Reverend Graham and his wife purchased a parcel of land during the 1920s in Lambert’s Cove. They negotiated relocation of Tut Chase’s blacksmith shop from the Middletown area of West Tisbury to the land, with the dream of converting it to a summer residence. In the mid-1930s Reverend Graham was called off-Island to the Calgary Methodist Church in Middletown, R.I. During the 1940s, he was called back to the Island Methodist ministry and the Graham family resided in the parsonage near the Methodist Camp Meeting Association Camp Ground in Oak Bluffs. Reverend Graham and Susie Bell then realized their dream of expanding the blacksmith shop into a summer house, which they named Grahaven. Grahaven was a beloved place for Mary Louise. To this day, Grahaven has retained its original character and is in the care of her family.

Mary Louise will be remembered by her family and friends for her gentle and kind nature as well as her literary intellect and accomplishments in music, teaching and handiwork. As a young mother she patiently taught embroidery to neighborhood children in her living room and sewed and knitted her children’s clothing. She then earned a teaching certificate and was a well-loved third grade teacher for more than 25 years. Her affinity for church music led her to be an organist for Sunday services at Blessed Sacrament Church and North Presbyterian Church in Queens, N.Y., for more than 30 years, and she sang with the Oratorio Society of Queens for 30 years. Regular attendance at the Wednesday evening community sing in the Tabernacle was another expression of her love for music. She was an avid reader, rapid solver of The New York Times Sunday Crossword, and a passionate daily viewer of Jeopardy! She had a special lifelong fondness for cats.

She is survived by her husband of 62 years, Robert; son Christopher of West Tisbury, daughters Ellen of Dover, Susan of Sturbridge, and Anne Marie of Elmont, N.Y.; and grandchildren John, Robert, Otto, Julie, Kayla, Nevin and Alyssa. She was predeceased by brothers, James, Robert, and John, sister Ruth, grandson Andrew, and son Thomas.

A service of remembrance will be held in the Chapel at Windemere Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Oak Bluffs on Dec. 19 at 1 p.m. A memorial mass will be held in Bayside, N.Y., at Blessed Sacrament Church on Jan. 21, 2012, at 10:45 a.m. with a reception at the church to follow.

Donations in her name may be made to Hospice of Martha’s Vineyard, P.O. Box 2549, Oak Bluffs, MA 02557, or to the Animal Shelter of Martha’s Vineyard, One Pennywise Path, Edgartown, MA 02539.