Marie M. Bristol

Marie Mahoney Bristol, of Fort Lauderdale and formerly of Chapel Hill, NC, passed away on June 2, 2015 at the age of 73 in the loving arms of her sister Trish. Marie fought a valiant battle against scleroderma, to which she never surrendered in spirit or determination. She grew up with her siblings Trish, Joe, Ann, and Paul in Buffalo, NY, where she received her B.A. at Nazareth College. While she was raising her sons Douglas Jr. and David with her former husband Douglas Bristol, she also received an M.A. from the University of Utah and a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She was a fierce advocate for those with autism and scleroderma as well as for the LGBT community. She was Assistant Director of Child and Adolescent Services, then Director of Preschool Services at the Southeast Mental Health and Retardation Center in Fargo, ND. After receiving her Ph.D., she was a Program Director at the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Foundation in Washington, D.C. before becoming a tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. At UNC-CH, she was the Director of Preschool Research and Services at...[more]

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vision TEACCH, a statewide program for research, services, and training in autism. She spent the rest of her professional career at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at the National Institutes of Health, where she served as Special Assistant for Autism. She led the formation and coordination of a ten site network on the genetics and neurobiology of autism, the Collaborative Programs of Excellence in Autism, and the first of the NIH Inter-Institute Autism Coordinating Committees. In retirement she took up new causes, helping to establish the Scleroderma Foundation and served on its Board of Directors. She also served on the Board of the Historic Stranahan House and volunteered with Florida Equality, where she initiated the "Take a Straight to Lunch" program. She was also an active member of All Saints Episcopal Church, where she served as a mentor in the Education for Ministry Program. Among her many honors, she received the 2002 Dale Richmond/Justin Coleman Award for Outstanding Contributions in the Field of Child Development and Behavior and, in 2011, she received the first Ally for Equality Award from Florida Equality. Marie's enjoyment of good company, intellectual curiosity, and joie de vivre was with her to the end. Donations can be made in Marie's name to the Golden Pride Award fund at the University of Southern Mississippi Foundation at http://www.usmfoundation.com/s/1149/foundation/start.aspx. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, June 27 at 11 a.m. at All Saints Episcopal Church, 333 Tarpon Drive, Fort Lauderdale, FL. Family will receive visitors in the hour before the service, and a reception will follow the service. Marie's remains will be interred in the Memorial Grove on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill at a later date.