De Young, Mary Wallit.

Heavily involved in First Amendment rights issues, Garry and Mary De Young worked closely with famed atheist Madalyn Murray O’Hair in supporting freedom of religion and the separation of church and state. They were the litigants in 84 lawsuits, focusing primarily on civil rights, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the separation of church and state and fourteen of which appealed to the United States Supreme Court.

Born in Preakness, New Jersey, Garry De Young, Jr. (1923-2002) served in the U.S. Air Force in England during World War II as a Master Sergeant with the B-17 Bombers in the 457th Bomb Group. During his service, he received six Bronze Stars and the Good Conduct Medal. In 1947, De Young married elementary school teacher Mary J. Wallitt, and the couple had nine children. Garry graduated from Delaware State University in 1955 and then enrolled at Temple University to pursue a Master of Education degree. Mary taught at a school in Baltimore until 1962, when she was fired after the school board learned the De Youngs were atheists. Afterwards, the De Youngs moved to Minnesota, where Garry served as the chief writer for the Minnesota Highway Department, until he was fired for playing secular music at a Christmas party.

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