Mildred Maurine Hebert Pyle of Carbondale
A memorial service will be held for Maurine Pyle at 11 a.m. Sept. 24, 2022, at the Newman Center in Carbondale, 715 S. Washington St. The service will be in the Manner of Friends (Quakers) and will be hybrid - in-person and online. For information on how to participate online, please email info@siquaker.org.
Mildred Maurine Hebert Pyle (Maurine) passed away May 21, 2022, at her assisted living facility in Terre Haute, Ind.
Maurine was born July 5, 1949, to A. Leon Hebert and Lorelle Seal Hebert. She was born in Baton Rouge, La., into a large family. She was raised as a Catholic, and later she became a Quaker. She was a traveling minister among Quakers, and she was deeply involved in working on reconciliation between Quakers who identified as Christian and Quakers who identified more liberally with "spirit" or unlabeled spirituality.
After graduating from University High School in Baton Rouge, she received her bachelor's degree from the University of Kentucky and subsequently received a master's degree from National Louis University (in management and development of human resources) and a second master's from Southern Illinois University Carbondale in linguistics. She was a teacher; she helped people with drug addiction and mental illness; she helped young people get into college; and she taught English as a second language to Spanish speakers and others. She authored two books, "New Children of the Light," which examines metaphors used by Millennial Quakers; and "Making Change: Facilitating Community Action" (co-authored with Jeanne L. Hites Anderson). Her Plummer Lecture, "Follow Me," was published as a pamphlet by Illinois Yearly Meeting (Quakers). Throughout her life, her work focused on community development and reconciliation.
This took many forms, including working with the John Howard Association for prison reform, traveling the world with Play for Peace, as director of Gaia House Interfaith Center in Carbondale, and as a facilitator for various religious and civic organizations that had unresolved divisions within them. Her peace advocacy took her to places as far away as St. Petersburg, Russia.
She loved to sing and, in the silence of Quaker Meeting, would be moved to raise her voice in song. When asked how she would like to be remembered, she said to remember her as "a peacemaker, a follower of Jesus, and a loving family member and friend."
She is survived by her sons, Ned Pyle (Seattle) and Nick Pyle (Chicago); her siblings, Lula Hebert Pride, Barbara Hebert Willis, Noël Hebert Prescott and P. Michael Hebert; and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and extended family. She is also survived by her good friend and former husband, Howard Pyle. Her parents and her siblings, Mary Madeline Hebert McLean, A. Leon Hebert III and Carmelite Hebert Blanco, predeceased her.
Memorial donations may be made to the Carbondale Interfaith Council (P.O. Box 854 Carbondale, IL 62903), the Carbondale Warming Center (608 E. College St. Carbondale, IL 62901), Recovery International (1415 W. 22nd St., Tower Floor, Oak Brook, IL 60523), or to a charity of the donor's choice.