A Mother and Son in Service
A
Mother's Day
Tribute
Written By Jordan Rosenfeld
and Kimberly Ewertz
64
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
Mary Lou and Dave Conragan
W
hile some parents and children grow apart
over the years, Dave Conragan, owner of
Community Chiropractic in Morgan Hill,
and his mother, Mary Lou Conragan, have
only grown closer.
Mary Lou said their closeness comes down to love and
respect. “You have to love your child, but you don’t have to
like him. I really like him and respect him. He’s a pillar of
the community and he takes care of me,” she said.
Mary Lou admires many things about her son. “He’s very
humanistic and intuitive and listens well. He gives of himself
and I don’t think he asks for a lot in return.”
She also praised how the former competitive weight
lifter spends his time coaching others in his former sport at
Crossfit of Morgan Hill and Gilroy. “There’s really nothing in
it for him, but he cares about people and wants to make sure
they do things correctly.”
Dave said their relationship has only grown closer since
Mary Lou moved to Morgan Hill fifteen years ago to be
nearer to her kids and grandkids. They live less than ten
miles from one another, which makes it easy to get together.
“There’s an easy honesty between us and we can let each
other know if there’s any needs or wants we have,” he said.
Mother and son especially connect around one crucial
value: community service. Mary Lou, who has been
retired for nine years from Intel, volunteers at a number of
organizations: As a docent at Gilroy Gardens; a volunteer
april/may 2019
gmhtoday.com