Her body moves more slowly now, while her mind races through 80 years of living and reflects on her life in contemporary Cary.

She remembers leading human rights movements as far as Brazil and Japan, and as near as Research Triangle Park.

She comments on modern society in which, she fears, “intelligent life forms” are becoming “increasingly rare.”

Through it all, Mary Diener has developed a timeless life philosophy: “Love one another and share responsibilities and sorrows.”

Love, in fact, is a major theme underlying a life filled with more accomplishments and accolades than most people can imagine.

It was love, for example, that prompted her to organize a Brazilian soup kitchen that continues to provide daily nutrition and medical services to 1,200 underprivileged children.

“When my husband and I arrived in Brazil,” she recalls, “there appeared to be only two options open to me: drink or play bridge. I opted to play bridge until I learned of the great needs facing that nation’s children.”

That’s when she urged her priest to form Social Assistance for Vila Alpina, a ministry she helped fund by actively soliciting individual and corporate contributions.

Memorabilia from her days in Brazil, as well as her younger years in Japan, decorate Diener’s modest apartment. A tea service marks her entry as a founding student in the International College of Japan while her father served on Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s occupation staff following World War II.

Pausing only long enough to light a cigarette, she moves into the next phase of her life.

Following a divorce, “raising four kids as a single mother meant I was the one who had to put food on the table,” she said. “So I decided to form a public relations and marketing firm. Turns out I was the first female CEO in Research Triangle Park.”

She built her business, Mary Diener Associates, on experience as a newspaper reporter, advertising copywriter and market researcher.

Her consulting career led her to be founding president of the North Carolina Association of Women Business Owners as well as a delegate to two national roundtables and appointee of two gubernatorial small-business councils.

It all happened, she recalls, in the 1960s when Cary’s population hit 7,500 and “experienced a traffic jam every time a car stopped at the town’s only traffic light.” Much has changed since then, including Mary’s health. Breast cancer, a stroke, open heart surgery and an aneurism have taken their toll without dampening her enthusiasm for life.

“I don’t live my life around doctors’ diagnoses,” she says sharply. “Who I am is still who I am.”

A hint into “who she is” can be found on a plaque over her kitchen stove: “lead, follow or get out of the way.”

A more telling insight appears on the pages of “When the Sun Goes Down,” an anthology of original poetry published in 1969. Her poems probe two universal mysteries: religion and love.

“When I was young,” she admits, “I was in love with the idea of love. Over the years, I’ve learned to love in far deeper ways.” Her growth is evident in a quote introducing a series of “Sun” poems: “What’s good for the heart is good for the soul, and what’s good for the soul can’t be wrong.”