Her uniform jersey hangs in the gym lobby at Parkersburg Catholic High School in a glass case that also regales her many accomplishments and honors as a Crusaderette cager.
A lot of younger people, though, know just of Mary Ostrowski as a name from PCHS's storied girls basketball past.
However Tuesday night at Catholic in the same gym where Mary O starred in the late 70s, those not familiar with her got a chance to see her first-hand, as she and her dad Chet showed up unannounced at the girls basketball game between the Crusaderettes and Tyler Consolidated, won by PCHS 48-45.
But word spread quickly and people came up to to her to introduce themselves, shake her hand and talk to her throughout the night.
After the Catholic lineup was introduced before the game, the PCHS team en masse went over where Mary was sitting to shake her hand.
There was an inkling, though, beforehand that ''there was a possibility of her being here,'' said current Crusaderette head coach Marty Vierheller after the game.
But when she was on hand for the game, ''we really wanted Mary to understand what she means to us,'' said Vierheller. ''I hope she does.''
However, with Mary O being diagnosed with a form of blood cancer five years ago and undergoing treatments, including chemotherapy, to combat the illness ever since, sometimes she was unable to travel very much. She even had to miss her induction this spring right here in Parkersburg - her hometown - into the West Virginia Sports Writers Hall of Fame
''So there was talk that when she was in town, we wanted to get her in this building, and I was so proud of her to make the effort to be here,'' said Vierheller. ''But if you know Mary and the Ostrowski family like we do, you know it's not about them and they don't want any extra attention. But they deserve it, by golly. She is Parkersburg Catholic basketball, and we hope that in some small way we were able to return to her in a little bit of a tribute what she's done for us.''
To which he added, ''it was an absolute thrill for me to coach a basketball game with her in this building. It means that much to me - and I told her so - and it did to our girls too, who have obviously heard about her and talked to her before the game.''
Then after the game in the locker room, Vierheller showed Mary the plaque that her dad had given to Marty and his team several years ago from her induction into the University of Tennessee Lady Vols' Hall of Fame in 2006. ''Chet had it and wanted us to have it, and we've got it hanging down there,'' said Vierheller. ''We touch it everytime we go past it. So every trip out of the locker room, the girls know that Mary's with them and we're with her.
''We just wanted her and Chet to see it. It was a nice moment.''
Mary O was a three-time state high school player of the year (1977-79) and voted the West Virginia Amateur Athlete of the Year as a PCHS senior in 1980. Catholic won two state titles in her time there with an 88-game winning streak.
Mary was a two-time first-team All-American at UT, a Final Four MVP, and now this year had the state girls basketball player of the year award named after her.
Contact Steve Hemmelgarn at shemmelgarn@newsandsentinel.com
