Mary M. Brill

Mary Margaret (Hinkforth) Brill, P.T., age 74, passed away on Sunday, June 17, 2018. Mary was born April 22, 1944 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She graduated from Washington High School in 1962 and Marquette University in 1966, with a Bachelor of Science degree in physical therapy.

Mary married James (Jim) Joseph Brill on August 13, 1966. They initially lived in Milwaukee, where they had son Robert (Bob) and daughter Aimee. Mary began working as a physical therapist. During 1972-1974, the family lived in Fort Dix, New Jersey, where Jim served in the Army as an anesthesiologist.Over four decades starting in 1974, Mary and Jim lived in the Hill Farms neighborhood of Madison, first raising their children, and later welcoming visits by their grown children having families of their own. Her grandchildren have known Mary to be characteristically engaging, caring, fun-loving, supportive, and generous.

She had deep involvement with family and friends over the years. Mary was a talented communicator with vibrant interests in nature, literature, learning, music, and art. She was successful in selling a piece of her creative writing for publication. For enrichment, Mary occasionally attended college courses in liberal arts, plus writing workshops. She also continued her professional career. Mary was a forward-thinking and empathetic physical therapist with business skills. She eventually opened and ran the Back School with a physician. In the prominent journal PHYSICAL THERAPY (PTJ), Mary was lead author of "Application of 24-hour burst TENS in a Back School" (1985). This article showed her program to be an effective and safe treatment for back pain. By formal invitation, Mary spoke to a large audience of medical device engineers about her advanced research and insights on use of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) for treatment of patients.
She had recently moved to an assisted living residence in Oshkosh, near the home of Aimee's family.

Mary is survived in loving memories by her son Robert James, daughter-in-law Dr. Lisa Forman, grandchildren Clarissa Marie and Colette Renee Brill-Forman, daughter Aimee Monica Johnson, son-in-law Dr. Scott Johnson, and grandchildren Michael James and Annika Aimee. She is also survived by brother Richard Hinkforth (remarried to Cheryl; nieces Lisa, Jill, and Kristen).She is further survived by in-laws Mark Brill (Jamis Littel; nephews Christopher and Alexander), Peter (Mary; niece Sarah and nephew Eric), David (partner Michael Martin), Michael (Carol, deceased; niece Elizabeth and nephew Matthew), and nephews Scott and Todd Fortune.

Mary was preceded in death by her loving husband Jim, her parents Raymond and Margaret (Rosenberg) Hinkforth, and in-laws Lawrence Brill (Maxine Wisniewski), Florence (Bogaczyk; married to Lawrence until death), and Mary (Michael) Fortune.

A mass of Christian burial will be at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, June 20, 2018 at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, 602 Everglade Drive, Madison, WI 53717 with Father Bart Timmerman presiding, visitation will be from 10:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. A private burial will take place at Sunset Memory Gardens.


Gifts can be made to the church or charity of one's choice.