DM Blog

by Matt Dees

January 31, 2012

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Semans casket

Pallbearers guide Mary Semans' casket into Duke Chapel – Photo courtesy of Duke Photography

Death spares no one, and we should all be so lucky to live as long and as well as Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans. If ever there was an apt time for the "this is a celebration of life" funeral trope, this was it.

So why am I sitting in the back pew of a packed-to-the-flying-buttresses Duke Chapel, swallowing lump after emotional lump and hoping the other members of the media don't notice?

Though I barely knew her, I think Mary Semans' passing hit home - a heady mix of inspiration and sadness - for one reason: she didn't have to be this great.

It would have been easy - and probably quite pleasant - for her to take refuge in a tony New York brownstone, marry someone of comparable station and live the life of a modern-day aristocrat.

Or she could have lived in Durham but holed herself up in her Forest Hills mansion, being trotted out for this or that Duke function only to return to her life of wealth and leisure.

Worse, she could have used the power and influence conveyed by her bloodline for her own personal gain.

Instead, she did this:

• Voluntarily moved to Durham from Manhattan at age 14, fulfilling the wish of her grandmother, Sarah P. Duke, and living with her.

• Enrolled at Duke a year later, graduating in 1939.

• Married Dr. Josiah Charles Trent and had four children with the Duke thorasic surgeon before he died at age 34 of lymphona.

• Three years later, married Dr. James Hustead Semans, a Duke surgeon and professor of urology, with whom she had three more children and lived with until his death in 2005 at age 94. Mary leaves behind those seven children, plus 16 grandchildren and 29 great-grandchildren.

• Was one of two women to be the first elected to the Durham City Council.

• Worked with Elna Spaulding to improve race relations in Durham, and served for nearly 30 years as a trustee of Lincoln Community Hospital.

• With Dr. Semans, was instrumental in starting the N.C. School of the Arts. She served 17 years as its board chair. (She called the school "the impossible dream," so it was movingly fitting to have a quartet from the school perform the famous Man of La Mancha anthem at Monday's service.)

• Was equally instrumental in opening the Nasher Museum of Art.

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by Matt Dees

January 31, 2012

Latest Comments

  • Durham's soul

    What a wonderful tribute to a woman who defined much of Durham, and who loved and believed in this community like no other. You are right that she wielded tremendous power, but she was also astonishingly approachable. Like hundreds -- probably thousands -- of others, I thought of her as a mentor and friend. Her legacy lives on not only through her children but through the good work of the Biddle Foundation, the Duke Endowment, Duke University, and the many causes and institutions she parented along the way.

    Posted by Susan Cranford Ross February 02, 2012 17:26:02

  • Mary Semans

    Mary went from the mother of a fellow student when I was a schoolkid to someone I could spend an interesting several minutes speaking with at the gym or at Guglehupf at lunch time over an almost 50 year span. I was in awe of her but she always was so modest and friendly. What a woman - she certainly still inspires me to be a better person!

    Posted by Julia Barnes-Weise February 02, 2012 16:44:34

  • Mary tribute

    Matt well done to a She- roe of mine her life is a great testament to all if we just do a little to help each other no matter how uncomfortable it might be her legacy will live long in Durham .......The Play House Toy store

    Posted by Donna Frederick February 02, 2012 14:54:33

  • Best tribute to Ms. Semans

    Matt,
    This is my favorite tribute to Ms. Semans because you captured the essential wonder of her life. I have no doubt she would have worked just as hard for her community had she NOT been as privaleged. But she was, and this gave her good works leverage, the benefit of which we all get to share. It was great to see you there, honoring her quietly in the back of the chapel.
    Scott

    Posted by Scott Harmon February 02, 2012 12:59:49

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