Mary Rodgers Van Orman  Beautiful, Brilliant, New Yorker, Force. These words were commonly used to describe Mary Rodgers Van Orman, who died peacefully on January 16, 2020 at the age of 83.  Born in Brooklyn, NY on April 10,1936, Mary was the eldest of Patrick and Catherine Rodgers' three children. She was also the beloved wife of Philip Van Orman, whom she met while dining in the Officers' Dining Room of the Federal Reserve. Mary and Philip were married in 1968. They made their home in Brooklyn Heights where they raised their two daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret.  Wherever she went, Mary made her mark. After graduating from Barnard in 1958, she enrolled and thrived at Fordham Law School where she was the only woman in the graduating class of 1961. She was also one of the first women to get a credit card in her own name at a time when it was difficult for a single woman to qualify for one. After graduating from law school, Mary worked as an attorney for the Department of Housing and Urban Development from 1961 to 1966. She started in HUD's Manhattan office before transferring to San Juan, Puerto Rico, and then to Washington, DC. She returned to New York in 1966 to work as an associate counsel at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. In 1977, she left to take care of her daughters, who were 7 and 5 years old at the time. While at home raising her daughters, Mary continued to have an impact. She served on the boards of directors of the Junior League of Brooklyn, the Heights and Hill Community Council and YWCA. She was also very involved in fundraising events for her daughters' schools: Packer Collegiate, Choate, St. Paul's and Princeton.  Staying at home didn't suit Mary, however. In 1985, when her daughters were older, she returned to work. She worked briefly at a small law firm run by a Fordham classmate before becoming an administrative law judge for the City of New York, a position she relished. She loved going to work every day where some of her closest friends were the other administrative law judges and where her outsized, unfiltered sense of humor made her a darling even among the defendants who came before her.  Mary was a gifted chef who effortlessly crafted gourmet feasts of up to 20 dishes for multitudes of people. Her extravagant affairs were made all the more remarkable in that she produced them with no help and in a tiny galley kitchen barely big enough to turn around in. Holidays were her favorite time to entertain. While her daughters were in college, everyone who didn't have a place to go for Easter was invited to the Van Ormans'. All were welcome in her grand Brooklyn Heights dining room. She just set up card tables if she ran out of space at her dining table which once belonged to famed Civil War General George Meade.  Mary and Phil loved to go to the opera and plays. They loved soaking in the city's culture. Mary, in particular, was a New Yorker at heart and was always happy when walking the city's streets, absorbing all they had to offer.  Mary is survived by her daughters, Elizabeth and her husband, Tom, of Chevy Chase, MD, and Margaret, and her husband, Todd, of Oyster Bay, NY, and five grandchildren.  Donations may be made in Mary's memory to Barnard College, Box AS, 3009 Broadway, New York, NY 10027.