Bench dedicated in honor of retired HFC Trustee Mary Lane

In mid-October 2021, Mary Lane, who retired from the HFC Board of Trustees last year after two decades of service, was surprised to learn a bench was named in her honor.

“It’s really nice. It wasn't necessary, but it certainly is appreciated. It’s touching to think my family and friends thought so much of me to do this,” said Lane, of Dearborn, who served on the Board from 2000 to 2007 and 2009 to 2020.

The bench was dedicated at a quiet ceremony on Oct. 12. A group of family members, close friends, and HFC officials attended. Lane preferred it that way. “I didn’t want any fanfare,” she said.

The bench was installed on Kingfisher Bluff, along the main branch of the Rouge River at the western edge of HFC’s main campus.

“I love having it over the river,” said Lane. “Anything to get people out in nature.”

The bench was crowd-funded. Amar Ourchane, Lane’s husband of 41 years and a retired engineering supervisor at Ford Motor Co. in Dearborn, designed the bench. It was constructed at Diseños Ornamental Ironwork in Detroit, which is owned by Nieves Longordo.

“It’s a woman-owned ironworks. (Nieves) put the vision to iron,” said Lane. “The bench says ‘peace’ in both English and Arabic.”

Proud community college grad

The eldest of five children, Lane was born in Kalamazoo. An alumna of what is now Forest Hills Central High School in Grand Rapids, Lane began her education at Grand Rapids Community College, which was then Grand Rapids Junior College. After earning her associate degree in general studies, she transferred to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. There, she earned her bachelor’s degree in anthropology and her master’s degree in social work.

“Coming from a big family, my parents couldn’t afford to send me directly to U-M out of high school,” recalled Lane. “Going to GRJC really served me well and prepared me for U-M. I am a proud community college graduate!”

Getting involved in the community

For more than 40 years, Lane worked with immigrants, refugees, and international citizens. She is the director emeritus of Welcome Mat Detroit, a Global Detroit project supporting immigrant services. She also worked as Director of Immigration and Immigration Services for the International Institute of Metro Detroit and as a U.S. Department of Justice Accredited Representative at several non-profit agencies, representing and assisting immigrants on legal issues and how to become naturalized American citizens. She also taught English as a second language in a small village in Algeria and immigration law at Oakland Community College.

Lane and her husband moved their family – two sons and a daughter, who are engineers like their father and graduates of the Dearborn Public Schools – to Dearborn in 1985. She got involved in the community in 1991 when the district was closing schools. Students were being bussed from the east side of Dearborn to the west side. This concerned Lane, and she expressed her concerns at various meetings. She also formed a group called Citizens for Better Education, asking the Board to reconsider a new bond. In 1999, she ran for the Board – which oversees both HFC and the Dearborn schools – and got elected.

“Many people began their political careers by being elected to the school board,” said Lane. “A classic example of this is President Jimmy Carter.”

“A real lifeline”

According to Lane, community colleges, public education, and public services (including public libraries and national parks) are three of the greatest accomplishments of the United States.

“The community college is a real lifeline and an opportunity for a better life for so many people,” said Lane. “Not only do I speak from experience as someone who attended a community college, I’ve seen it firsthand here at HFC. It’s accessible, it provides a quality education for students, it’s contributed to making people productive members of society. A point of pride for me about HFC is its diversity. So many students from all walks of life attend HFC.”

After 20 years, Lane decided to retire from the Board, feeling it was the right time to pass the baton to people with new perspectives and ideas.

“That is one of the greatest aspects of our democratic society. The Board is under the care of some seasoned veterans and some new members. It is to them and their posterity that we commit the future of the College. They will continue the work my fellow trustees and I started, guiding the College into its next era of greatness.”

Lane looks back at her time on the Board with great fondness.

“I thought I gained much more from being on the Board than I gave to it,” she said. “My service on the Board didn’t need to be memorialized. Still, I’m very touched and honored by it. It’s very sweet.”

A novelist in retirement

In retirement, Lane has remained active, volunteering in the community. She recently completed an online law class at Yale University in New Haven, CT. In early November, Lane will publish her first book, Untold Tales of Eighteenth Century Love and War: Martha Root and Elisha Hawley in Colonial New England. It is a work of historical fiction. The story takes place during the French and Indian Wars in the 18th century.

Look for the book locally and online in the coming weeks.