Obituaries » Mary E. Seegers Grothe
Mary Elizabeth Seegers Grothe, 75, of Warrenton, passed away peacefully in her home on January 25, 2021.
Mary was born on September 2, 1945, in New York City, and her family moved to McLean shortly thereafter. She attended the Gunston School, a nearby boarding school, and later went on to graduate from George Washington University with a degree in nursing, a fitting degree for someone of her compassionate nature. She subsequently enrolled in the Corcoran School of Art, where she took photography classes and met her future husband, Rolland Grothe.
Maryâs interest in photography began to focus on motorsports when she attended motorcycle races in which her husband Rolland and her brother, F. Scott âScottyâ Seegers, took part. When Mary set about photographing the remarkable talent of the racers, she found that they and their fans adored her photos, and many purchased her work despite being of modest financial means. By the 1970s, she was being lauded by some publishers as the nationâs greatest motorsports photographer. Ultimately, Maryâs endeavors in life contributed to the Women's Movement as a spectacular role-model in a [dangerous] male-dominated industry; she contributed valuable historical documentation to the early world of motorsports; and finally, but perhaps most importantly, she has kept the memories of those pioneering motorcycle racers alive. A large collection of Maryâs work has been donated to the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum in Birmingham, Alabama.