McReynolds, Mary (Cook) (1880–1955)

Mary (Cook) McReynolds was a doctor, staff physician, and teacher. She dedicated most of her life to pioneering work in the medical field and the Adventist education system, all while stressing the importance of health evangelism amongst individual churches by participating in camp meetings, evangelistic series, and giving medical lectures.

Early Life and Marriage

Mary Cornell Cook was born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on July 21, 1880.¹ She attended Wisconsin State Teachers College (today, University of Wisconsin-Superior), as well as the New Mexico Normal University (today, New Mexico Highlands University) where she graduated with her Bachelor of Pedagogy degree in 1900.²

On March 22, 1908, Mary Cook married Chester C. McReynolds. Together they had one son, Cornell McReynolds, who later became a doctor. Mary also had two stepsons, John C. McReynolds and J. Arthur McReynolds.³

Career

In 1901, Mary Cook joined the faculty of Emmanuel Missionary College (now Andrews University) where she served for three years as a registrar and private secretary to Percy T. Magan (1867-1947). She served in that role until 1904 when she became the educational superintendent of the Wisconsin Conference, a role she held until 1909.⁴

In 1909, Mary attended the General Conference Session, where she heard an appeal for medical evangelists from Ellen G. White. She acted on this appeal in 1912 by enrolling as a student at the College of Medical Evangelists,⁵ which later became the school of medicine at Loma Linda University. After graduating, she worked at Loma Linda Sanitarium (today, Loma Linda University Medical Center) not only as a doctor, but as an educator. Students saw her as someone they could go to expand their medical knowledge. Dr. McReynolds conducted a lively study for students in the evening, during which her “ability to answer questions regarding medical and dietic matters showed how invaluable her labors were to the institution.”⁶ During the holidays she enjoyed entertaining patients by telling Van Dyke stories (named for a then famous author for his well-known Christmas stories) in the evenings,⁷ which showed the true dedication and love she had for her career. She stayed until 1920 when she was appointed as the medical secretary of the Southwestern Union.⁸

While in the Southwestern Union, she participated in the Texico Conference Camp meeting as a writer for Halbert M. J. Richards,⁹ and joined with other evangelist campaigns in Dallas, Texas, and Redlands California.¹⁰

After only two years in the Southwestern Union, Dr. McReynolds moved back to California, where she worked at Pacific Union College as a teacher and staff physician from 1922 to 1949.¹¹ During this time, she was on the staff of editorial writers for a journal called The Medical Evangelist (which ran from 1908 to 1962.)¹² Its purpose was to spread awareness and represent the principles of health reform among Seventh-day Adventists.

Around 1940, Dr. McReynolds began to have health issues, specifically with her eyesight. After requesting a year off from work,¹³ and having cataract surgery on both eyes, she continued in her work.¹⁴ In 1949, she, along with Wayne McFarland and W. H. Vollmer, conducted a study which concluded that the Seventh-day Adventist Church was not realizing the true importance of the health message as an integral part of the gospel commission.¹⁵ Part of their study included recommending ways to incorporate the health message closer to church communities. This included nursing classes, first aid, and cooking classes.

The last few years of her life were spent at Loma Linda, California, until she died June 10, 1955. Her services were held in Burden Hall, Loma Linda University, and interment was in Montecito Memorial Park.¹⁶

Legacy

After the many years spent being a part of the faculty at Pacific Union College, the college named their women’s dormitory “Mary McReynolds Hall”¹⁷ in 1978 to honor Dr. McReynolds’ dedication and the many years she spent at the school, which she described as “[t]hat’s the heart of my life, those wonderful years at PUC.”¹⁸ Wherever she went throughout her life, she was intentional and dedicated to her work, especially for ensuring that the Church had a better understanding for the importance of health. She diligently taught future doctors as well as medical missionaries and left her mark on the churches and communities she actively participated in through camp meetings or medical lectures. One of her former students when she was at PUC remembers her as “the most positive and dynamic woman I have ever met.”¹⁹

Her life’s path and dedication can be summarized by an excerpt of a poem she wrote, “The Trail of Duty (The woman I want to be)”:

The sun will set with a beauty far

Surpassing ought I’ve seen;

And the trail I’ve come will then appear

As glowing soft and green.

So I must go on to the end of the road,

Though duty’s dull to me.

For over the hills I hear the call

Of the woman I want to be.²⁰

Sources

“A New Enterprise.” Pacific Union Recorder, May 8, 1919.

“Dr. Mary C. M’Reynolds,” The San Bernardino County Sun (San Bernardino, California), Wed, June 15, 1955.

Hill, Max. “A Visit To Loma Linda.” Pacific Union Recorder, November 29, 1917.

Hill, Max. “The Holidays at Loma Linda.” Pacific Union Recorder, January 10, 1918.

“Importance of Health Evangelism.” ARH, June 16, 1949.

Lukens, M. “The Texico Conference and Camp-Meeting.” ARH, October 28, 1920.

“Mary Cornell McReynolds.” CME Alumni Journal 26:7 (July, 1955).

“Mary Cornell McReynolds,” in Mary McReynolds Collection, Loma Linda University Libraries, Heritage Resource Center.

McReynolds, Mary. “The Trail of Duty (The woman I want to be)”, in Mary McReynolds Collection, Loma Linda Libraries, Heritage Resource Center.

“Pacific Union.” Adventist Review, January 5, 1978.

Sustentation file, Mary C. McReynolds, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Archives, Silver Spring, Maryland, Sustentation Files, RG 33.

Wagner, B. E. “McReynolds.” ARH, August 25, 1955.

Notes

1. B. E. Wagner, “McReynolds,” ARH, August 25, 1955, 27.↩

2. Unsigned newspaper clipping. “Mary Cornell McReynolds” in Mary McReynolds Collection, Loma Linda University Libraries, Heritage Resource Center↩

3. B. E. Wagner, “McReynolds,” ARH, August 25, 1955, 27.↩

4. Unsigned newspaper clipping. “Mary Cornell McReynolds” in Mary McReynolds Collection, Loma Linda University Libraries, Heritage Resource Center. For more on Magan, see the article on him at https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=49QB.↩

5. Wagner, 27.↩

6. Max Hill, “A Visit To Loma Linda,” Pacific Union Recorder, November 29, 1917, 5.↩

7. Max Hill, “The Holidays at Loma Linda,” Pacific Union Recorder, January 10, 1918, 5.↩

8. Wagner, 27.↩

9. M. Lukens, “The Texico Conference and Camp-Meeting,” ARH, October 28, 1920, 13. H. M. J. Richards was the father of H. M. S. Richards, Sr.; see https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=GA1V.↩

10. Unsigned newspaper clipping. “Mary Cornell McReynolds” in Mary McReynolds Collection, Loma Linda University Libraries, Heritage Resource Center↩

11. Wagner, 27.↩

12. Unsigned article, “A New Enterprise” Pacific Union Recorder, May 8, 1919, 8.↩

13. Sustentation file, Mary C. McReynolds, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Archives, Silver Spring, Maryland, Sustentation Files, RG 33.↩

14. Unsigned newspaper clipping. “Mary Cornell McReynolds” in Mary McReynolds Collection, Loma Linda University Libraries, Heritage Resource Center↩

15. Unsigned article “Importance of Health Evangelism,” ARH, June 16, 1949, 16.↩

16. Unsigned newspaper clipping, “Dr. Mary C. M. Reynolds,” The San Bernardino County Sun (San Bernardino, California), Wed, June 15, 1955, 22.↩

17. Unsigned article “Pacific Union,” Adventist Review, January 5, 1978, 21.↩

18. Unsigned newspaper clipping. “Mary Cornell McReynolds” in Mary McReynolds Collection, Loma Linda University Libraries, Heritage Resource Center↩

19. Unsigned Memoriam article, “Mary Cornell McReynolds,” CME Alumni Journal 26:7 (July, 1955), 42.↩

20. Mary McReynolds, “The Trail of Duty (The woman I want to be),” in Mary McReynolds Collection, Loma Linda Libraries, Heritage Resource Center.↩