Compassion and Community with Mary Olinger

Winston Churchill once said, "We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." For Mary Olinger, the 2012 South Dakota Hall of Fame Inductee, that sentiment could easily have been written with her in mind. Across nearly two decades as President and CEO of Make-A-Wish South Dakota, and in the many years of community service that followed, Mary has built a life defined by what she has been able to give to others.

When asked about what it means to be an Inductee of the South Dakota Hall of Fame, Mary recalled the phone call informing her that she had been nominated for the Hall of Fame. 

"For four days I kept crying, because I just kept thinking, this can't be me. But it's absolutely an honor, and the nicest part of it all is the organization itself is the way they recognize people and keep that tradition going for South Dakota."

A Farm Girl from Emery

Born in the final months of World War II, Mary Margaret Olinger was the oldest of nine children raised on a farm near Emery, South Dakota. Being the eldest came with expectations, and Mary credits her parents, Anthony and Eleanor Olinger, with instilling the work ethic that would define the rest of her life.

"They ruled with an iron hand, high expectations," Mary said of her parents. "They set the parameters for us. Work hard, and you'll be successful, and that's exactly what we did." She milked cows, worked the fields, and attended school in Emery before enrolling briefly at Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell. At nineteen, her father told her plainly that with nine children to raise, there was no money to keep her in school. It was time, he said, to find a job.

That directive brought Mary to Sioux Falls, where she started at a dollar and a quarter an hour and never looked back. "My life was just a transition since then," she said. "I've had the opportunity to meet so many people and learn so much, despite not having that wonderful college degree."

From the Loading Dock to Make-A-Wish

Mary spent seventeen years as executive assistant at American Freight System, a Sioux Falls trucking company that once employed fourteen thousand people nationwide, before the company folded overnight following a merger. From there, she became the first employee hired to help open Charter Hospital, South Dakota's first psychiatric hospital, building its marketing plan and mission from the ground up until that company, too, closed its doors.

In 1993, after a brief stint at the University of South Dakota's medical school, Mary was recruited to interview for the top job at Make-A-Wish South Dakota. More than two hundred and seventy people applied for the position, many with advanced degrees. Mary had none of that, only a reputation for an outstanding work ethic.

"They knew I would get the job done," she said. "And I was there almost eighteen years."

She inherited an organization with a single employee, herself, fifteen board members, and roughly thirty thousand dollars in the bank, not even enough to cover her own salary. Wishes cost about $4,200 each in those early days. Through fundraising efforts that included Hot Harley Nights, the House of Love home-building initiative, and Driving for Dreams, Mary grew the chapter into one of the top five Make-A-Wish organizations in the country. By the time she retired in 2011, more than eight hundred South Dakota children had received their wishes, and donations had grown by nine hundred percent.

Wishes That Became Lifelong Bonds

For Mary, the true measure of that work was never the dollar figures, but the relationships that formed along the way. She still tells the story of Kelsey, a young girl from Hartford battling a brain tumor whose wish was to meet country singer Garth Brooks. That wish blossomed into a friendship that has now lasted more than two decades. Brooks flew to South Dakota for the funeral of Kelsey's father and has continued to welcome her family into his life ever since.

"It's all about relationships," Mary said. "That's what it really is. It's just trying to do for others what you would like done for you or your family." She still receives invitations to weddings and graduations from families she came to know through the organization, connections that have outlasted her tenure by decades.

A Life Beyond Make-A-Wish

Mary's commitment to service did not end with her retirement. A devastating car accident left her with a broken neck, crushed knees, and damaged organs, and required fifteen surgeries and more than eight months of therapy. Within a year, she was walking, traveling, and granting wishes again. She went on to serve on the boards of Ronald McDonald House, Lifescape, the Augustana Athletic Board, the South Dakota Hall of Fame, and numerous other organizations across Sioux Falls, all while continuing to volunteer at Make-A-Wish and deliver Meals on Wheels in her community.

When asked how she hopes to be remembered, Mary returned, as she often does, to the people she has helped along the way.

"I would like to be remembered as somebody who cared so much that she would be there all the time," she said. "She's one person I could give a call to."

Learn more about Mary Olinger's life and legacy here.

Watch the full interview with Mary Olinger to hear her story in her own words.