Mary Stack

Mary Kathleen Stack was a four-time United States Paralympic powerlifter, adaptive sports advocate, and longtime wheelchair hockey player whose life was defined by perseverance, community, and an uncommon ability to lift other people up. Born on 3 April 1974 and raised in Royal Oak, Michigan, she grew up as the daughter of Michael and Margaret (Peggy) Stack, with sisters Anne and Ellen and brother Patrick. At age nine she was diagnosed with pseudohypoparathyroidism, a genetic condition in which the body produces too much parathyroid hormone. Effects can include short stature, soft-tissue calcifications, and shortened bones of the hands and feet. As a child she often felt embarrassed to try physical activity and doubted she could keep up with her peers.

That changed in high school. Dave Potter, an adaptive physical education instructor in the Royal Oak school district, introduced her to powerlifting. Her first competition, a state winter games meet in Grand Rapids while she was still at Royal Oak Kimball High School, opened a door she had not known existed. She later said that until then she had not believed she would ever compete in sports like her classmates, but that discovering disabled sports revealed a whole world. She won early competitions, including a national title as a high school senior, and never looked back.

Stack went on to represent Team USA in Paralympic powerlifting at four Games: Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, and London 2012. On the Paralympic results list she placed fifth in the women's -82.5 kg class in Sydney and fourth in the women's +82.5 kg class in London. Away from the Games she collected a national championship, an American powerlifting record (including a December 2007 lift of 118 kg that broke the previous U.S. mark by more than 5 kg), and a bronze medal at the 2011 Parapan American Games in Guadalajara, where she also set Games records. In 2010 she finished first at the IPC Powerlifting National Meet and fourth at the IPC Powerlifting World Championships. Ahead of London 2012 she lifted 130 kilograms at U.S. nationals in Oklahoma, reaching a long-held 300-pound goal, and entered the Games ranked among the top women in her class worldwide.

Her sporting life was never only the bench press. She played floor hockey, basketball, and track and field, and she spent 14 seasons in wheelchair hockey, recording 77 goals and 40 assists for 117 points according to Wheelchair Hockey League tributes after her death. With the Michigan Mustangs travel team from 2006 to 2009 she helped win a first tournament championship at the US PowerHockey Cup in 2009. Coaches and teammates remembered her kindness, competitive fire, and leadership as much as her medals. Potter, who had once known her as a shy student who barely spoke, later watched her tour the country talking about powerlifting and wept happy tears when she set records. Stack herself liked to say she was no longer the shy kid in the corner.

Education and work completed the circle. She graduated from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania in 2005 with studies in special education and made a career as sports and recreation coordinator at the Ann Arbor Center for Independent Living, where she created opportunities for people with disabilities to participate in sport and recreation. She received the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame Courage Award in 2005 and was inducted into the Michigan Athletes with Disabilities Hall of Fame. She remained close to coaches including Dave Potter and Mary Hodge, and she mentored younger athletes long after her own Paralympic cycle.

Stack died peacefully on 12 September 2026 at her childhood home in Royal Oak, with her mother beside her. She was 52. She was preceded in death by her father, Michael Stack, and is survived by her mother, Margaret Stack; sisters Anne Stack and Ellen Dart; brother Patrick Stack; and nieces and nephews Rosie, Maggie, Finn, Brennan, Michael, Liam, and Danny. Family and friends remembered card games of pinochle and canasta, laughter, and a fierce protective love for her extended family. A funeral Mass was set for 21 September 2026 at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak, with memorial gifts directed to Michigan Victory Games. Across Team USA profiles, PBS Medal Quest features, local Michigan sports coverage, and the Wheelchair Hockey League, the same theme recurs: Mary Stack measured strength not only in kilograms on a bar, but in the way she opened doors for others.