There are some people who seem to collect chapters in their lives rather than simply moving from one to the next. Mary DePaola is one of those people.
Over coffee and conversation, it quickly becomes clear that her warmth and graciousness are matched by an unmistakable generosity of spirit. She is the kind of person who makes you feel as though you have known her much longer than you have—and perhaps that is part of what has made her so deeply connected to Scotch Plains.
Mary loves Scotch Plains. She loves New Jersey. And after more than 25 years of calling the area home, she has experienced the community not from one vantage point, but from many.
Her own story is one of constant reinvention.
A graduate of Vanderbilt University, Mary began her professional life as a licensed structural engineer, working at the prestigious New York firm Severud Associates Consulting Engineers. But life had another plan. As her family grew, Mary stepped away from engineering to devote herself to raising her children.
And grew it did.
Mary and her husband raised six children, all of whom have gone on to become professionals themselves: two doctors, one lawyer and three structural engineers. It is a remarkable family legacy—and one that seems to reflect both the academic foundation Mary and her husband instilled and the value they placed on hard work, education and perseverance.
But motherhood wasn't the end of Mary's professional story. It was another beginning.
As her children grew, Mary found a new way to channel her energy and commitment to her community: public service. She served on the Scotch Plains Township Council, ultimately becoming Deputy Mayor and later serving as acting mayor. It was a chapter that allowed her to become intimately familiar with the inner workings of the town she loved—and to contribute to its future.
Then came another reinvention: real estate.
Today, as a Broker Associate with Coldwell Banker Realty, Mary helps people navigate one of life's biggest decisions—where to put down roots. And perhaps her greatest asset isn't simply her knowledge of the housing market. It's that she understands, firsthand, what families are looking for when they choose a community.
She knows what it means to raise children here. She knows the neighborhoods, the rhythms of the town and the intangible qualities that don't show up on a listing sheet. She understands that buying a house isn't just about square footage, bedrooms or a finished basement. It's about imagining a life.
Ask her what she loves about Scotch Plains and the answer comes easily. It is the people. The sense of community. The connection to New Jersey. The feeling that even as a town changes and grows, there remains something special about its character.
And perhaps that is the common thread running through every chapter of Mary's life: connection.
Over coffee, she doesn't come across as someone who has carefully constructed a résumé. Instead, her life feels like a series of doors she was willing to walk through when the time was right.
For Mary DePaola, reinvention doesn't seem to be about leaving one life behind for another. It is about taking everything you've learned along the way and bringing it with you.
And after more than two decades in Scotch Plains, it is clear that this community isn't simply where Mary lives or where she works.
It is home.