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North Pole — The call came Sunday morning. Mable Cary, beloved matriarch and one of the cornerstones of First Baptist Church of North Pole, had gone home. It was a phone call we knew was imminent, but still, it left an empty, hollow feeling knowing this wonderful woman was no longer with us.

Miss Mabel, as she was called by most of us in the church, was known throughout North Pole and was also well-known in many circles in Fairbanks. She died at age 91, but her mental age was about 35. She was full of fun and loved to gently tease those she cared for.

In 2002, I had the pleasure of interviewing Miss Mable and I would like to share a bit of this remarkable woman’s life with you.

She was born in 1916 in Silver Creek, Wis., and was the daughter of a cheese maker and helped in the factory. She knew she wanted to work as a nurse and eventually reached that goal and began working as a registered nurse at the Deaconess Hospital in Milwaukee.

When World War II broke out, she joined the Army and found herself working with war injured in California. It was there that she also met her future husband, Orland Cary. Although he’d joined to be a chaplain, he was put to work as an x-ray technician, so their paths crossed often.   In 1944 Mabel boarded a ship rated for 300 passengers that was almost bursting at the seams with 3,000 troops as well as the contents of the 82nd General Hospital. After two weeks at sea, they set up in England. It turned out Orland Cary had also been shipped to England, and the couple soon married.

Once out of the military, they headed to Alaska as missionaries to serve, in 1946, at Fairbanks First Baptist. The church had 18 members, five of them children. Fairbanks had just 5,000 residents at the time.

The Carys eventually had nine children and helped oversee more than a dozen other mission churches started, including Davis Mission — which later became North Pole First Baptist.

In 1951, the couple was building Airport Baptist Church when her husband suffered his first heart attack. When he died in 1961, she took over parenting their nine youngsters, ages 2 to 15, and at age 41, learned to drive a car.

To hold her family together, she worked at St. Joseph’s Hospital and for many years at the jail. Extracurricular activities included 15 years with the Literacy Council and being involved in dozens of organizations in Fairbanks and North Pole.

Mabel Cary was a vital cornerstone of North Pole First Baptist. If the doors were open, she was there, usually sitting in her middle, left-side pew. She was extremely active in her church and for years served as church clerk.

But her true vocation was in befriending and loving those around her. She was an encourager and was one of those people who genuinely cared. If she asked how you were, you knew it was because she really wanted to know.

I hope I will always be able to recall the memory of Mabel’s tinkling laughter, her delightful smile and her unwavering good cheer. She was one of the few people I’ve ever known who was blessed with unstoppable joy, no matter what the circumstances. She just sort of bubbled with happiness.

Miss Mabel’s advice was always to “Serve the Lord with gladness,” and all of us who knew her are grateful and honored that she used this advice herself. Because of it, we were blessed greatly. She was one of God’s true treasures, and even though we know she is now in Heaven, the place she so yearned to be, it is hard to believe she’s really gone. My prayers go to her family in this difficult time.

NPHS musical

North Pole High School will present the musical, “Working,” on Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the school’s Oehring Auditorium. Performances begin at 7 p.m. and Thursday night is canned food night. Admission is free with the donation of five cans of food.

According to Kathy Doyel, “Working” is about the labor of life.

“It has something for everyone — from finger-snapping tunes to touching moments,” she said. “But most of all, it is great music and fun for the whole family. This is a really good show, and actually North Pole did it several years ago.”

She said some of the music was written by James Taylor and the performance is different from most musicals in that it is made of short skits about different types of jobs and the people who do them. It is based on the best-selling book of interviews with American workers by Studs Terkel. Workers portrayed include a schoolteacher, executive, newsboy, waitress, fireman, housewife and many others.

The performance will be directed by Bruce Hanson and technical director is Greg Gustafson.

Yoga in North Pole

Feeling a bit stressed out? Here’s your opportunity to try yoga right in North Pole. The University of Alaska Fairbanks Yoga Club is expanding to North Pole starting Saturday. The first yoga practice will be held at the North Pole Grange at 4 p.m. Cost is $7 and all levels of experience are welcome. Organizers are asking those who have them to please bring a yoga mat.

For more information, call Ron at 488-5902.

HPV vaccine for girls

Health officials are increasingly urging young women to protect themselves against cervical cancer by being vaccinated with the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine.

The costly vaccine is now offered for free by the Fairbanks Regional Public Health Center for girls ages 9 to 18.

Once a woman turns 19, cost for the three-dose vaccine regime is $400. (girls under 18 must bring shot records and a parent.)

Public health nurses will be available today from 3 to 6 p.m. to provide vaccinations at Gulliver’s Books.

They will also be available to provide information and give shots during parent-teacher conferences Tuesday from 1 to 4 p.m. at North Pole, Lathrop and West Valley high schools.

The vaccine is also available on an ongoing basis at the Fairbanks Regional Public Health Center at 1025 W. Barnette St.

For more information on cervical cancer and the vaccine, call 452-1776.

How to tell the sex of a fly

A woman walked into the kitchen to find her husband stalking around with a fly swatter. She asked what he was doing.

“Hunting flies,” he responded, peering intently around the room.

“Oh! Killing any?” she asked. He said he’d killed three males and two females.

Intrigued, she asked how on earth he could tell them apart.

“Easy,” he said, “three were on a beer can and two were on the phone.”