As Mary Fusinski looks back on her life, she realizes there is a common thread that runs through its tapestry, which helps her understand people with disabilities and their struggles.
“I have a 28-year-niece hit by car when he was eight,” she said. “She had a closed head injury and had to relearn how to do everything. We have always been close.”
Lindsey, Fusinski’s niece, is alive and well with a job at a pet-grooming business and a new fiancé, but at the time the girl’s family was not sure she would even survive – and if she did, what would be left of her.
“She is doing better than expected,” she said.
But from the experience, Fusinski began to lean toward social work and helping people with their problems.
“I have mentored people with disabilities and worked for a company which helped those people in Yavapai County,” she said.
Her niece was in a coma for a very long time. Fusinski would visit the hospital every day after work. What if she didn’t wake up? What if she did? What would be there? There were years of watching her struggle.
“It was an education. It was life altering,” she said. “My mother was the kindest person I’ve ever known. I got that heart from her, but Lindsey’s accident helps me see the challenge of people with disabilities, what their siblings go through and the family dynamics.”
These days, Fusinski is the owner and broker of Pinon Realty in Prescott, but she still helps people in many ways, including through Rotary and by charging reduced commissions on the properties she sells.
She moved from Michigan to Arizona in 1998.
“My husband and I bought land many years ago in Cottonwood and built a home there in 2005. It was appraised at almost a million dollars,” she said.
Through her travels in the telecommunication business, she discovered Prescott.
“I fell in love with Prescott. I didn’t want to come back to the Verde Valley,” she said.
The couple proceeded to put their house on the market. With the economic downturn it took two years to sell their house, and only for $475,000.
“We already had our eye on Pinon Oaks,” she said. “We found a wonderful builder, Britton Bryce.”
He told them the lot they had their eye on had been sold, but the lot across the street was available.
The location was perfect. Her husband is a HAM radio operator so putting up an antenna was fine and Fusinski could work in the telecommunications world from her home.
“When I moved to Prescott, I found the Rotary Club,” she said. “I was asking for help for a boy going to college in a wheelchair. He was not prepared for college. All he had were the clothes on his back and a backpack.”
She said the state was willing to send him, but he needed so many things.
“He needed gloves for his hands, a lamp for his room, a refrigerator. Somebody [suggested that I] ask the Rotary Club,” she said.
She went before the Prescott Frontier Rotary Club and was amazed at what happened.
“People started handing me checks and someone said, ‘I have a fridge.’ These people were amazing. Long story short, that was the beginning of my career in Rotary and a joyful part of my life.”
Today, she continues to help the community through Rotary.
“I have known Mary pretty well through Rotary,” said Rex Townsend, immediate past president of Frontier Rotary. “She was co-chair of our big fundraiser, Grapes 4 Grades. She is a tireless worker and gave personally with her time and money. I can’t say enough good things about her.”
Grapes 4 Grades raises money for the local summer school program.
Fusinski grew up in Michigan with four siblings.
“I’ve always lived by lakes. I swam, I floated in inner tubes and played in the water. I ice skated in winter. My brother had a [winter] fishing shanty. He is still a big-time fisherman and still lives in Michigan. It was a fun place to grow up.”
However, during her travels while in the telecommunications business, she fell in love with Arizona and the sunshine.
“I knew some day I would make it here,” she said.
Fusinski moved from the telecommunications business to real estate because her mentor did it and eventually started her own business.
“I won’t work for a broker who says you have to charge six or seven or eight percent commission. I get a flat 4½ percent,” she said. “It is not just about money. I make enough to feel comfortable. What I want to do is help people. It’s never been about money or position or power. It’s about leaving a place better than when I came.” QCBN
By Patty McCormac, QCBN
What do you enjoy the most about your business?
“Meeting all the people.”
Who inspired you and why?
“My mentor, who was the vice president of AT&T in Detroit, was my boss and mentor. I lost touch with her, but years later I found out she was semi-retired and had become a realtor. I said, ‘I’m going to do what Donna did.’”
What book or movie has influenced you?
“’Rocky’. The determination to never give up and hold on to your dreams no matter what happens – if you get knocked down, get up and keep going.”
Where is your favorite place to eat?
“El Gato Azul. They have the best food and the greatest owner. Just wonderful everything.”
When the movie of your life comes out, who should play you?
“Gwyneth Paltrow. She is a strong woman. She is poised and she’s a lady and a talented person.”