Mary was born with a cleft palate and several surgeons unsuccessfully tried to close the gap when she was a child. Wearing a prosthesis to help her eat, breath, and speak was the best option. It made a large difference in her life, but there was room for improvement. Due to continued difficulties in being understood, Mary chose a career as a Cobalt computer programmer that required less speaking.
In 1969, Mary came to the Clinic as an adult. She had been receiving care from another Pennsylvania clinic and someone suggested visiting the Lancaster Cleft Palate Clinic. Mary needed a new prosthetic for her cleft palate and Dr. Mo was happy to make one. This new prosthetic enabled her to speak more clearly. Even her husband was surprised at the difference. Mary’s new found speech clarity gave her greater confidence and she decided to make a career change.
Mary became a high school librarian. Her new ability to project her voice and clarity in speech allowed her to teach children, 
something she had wanted to do, but unable due to her cleft palate. The Clinic changed that for her. Mary continued to come to the Clinic for additional prosthetics from Dr. Mo for the rest of her life.
Research has always been a large part of the work and success of the Clinic. Monitoring and measuring the success of our patient outcomes has allowed the Clinic to provide the very best care for our patients. Mary very much valued our approach and directly experienced the positive results, even allowing her to make a mid-career change. In her honor, Mary’s family established the Mary Smith Clinical Research Endowment to support our research into the future. Her passion for our work and approach is now supporting patients for years to come.
