MAT 19:14 .....
"Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

MAT 18:5
"And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me."

Mrs. Mary Thangaraj was born Mary Monica Coelho, to Dominic and Magdalene Coelho in Mangalore. Her family moved to Madras (Chennai) in 1938, where she studied and then practiced Nursing at the General Hospital. She won a prestigious Rockefeller Foundation scholarship and went for graduate study in Nursing at Vanderbilt University, USA, and Toronto University, Canada during 1946-1948. When she returned she became the first Principal of the Lady Hope School of Nursing in Chennai in 1948. Later that year she married Dr. Thangaraj at the San Thome Cathedral in Chennai on December 29th.

When her first son was born, she reluctantly gave up her job as Principal, in order to be a fulltime mother and housewife. Soon however, she plunged into social work, using her skills and background in Nursing and in Administration, to found the Tambaram Child Welfare Center for Pre-Natal, Delivery and Post-Natal care, and become its first Secretary. Her second son, Suresh, was born a few years later.

Soon, however, there were warning signs that he was not developing normally and he was diagnosed with Down's syndrome, accompanied by mental retardation and the inability to speak. While that was a terrible blow, Dr. and Mrs. Thangaraj took it as a challenge from God and started searching for ways to fulfill God's will. They educated Suresh at home, took him to see many specialists, tried homeopathic and ayurvedic remedies and made the pilgrimage to Velankani and other shrines. At the same time they became aware of other mentally retarded children in the town - not an easy task as parents were generally ashamed and reluctant to make it known that they had a retarded child. They tried to get the retarded children together to socialize and learn together, on an informal basis. This continued with mixed success for a few years, and then God opened up an opportunity for them.

In 1967, Dr. Thangaraj became the Principal (President) of the American College in Madurai, a city about 500 kilometers south of Chennai. On moving to Madurai, they found that there were hundreds of retarded children within a radius of several kilometers, and there was a great need for an institution in which to educate them. Dr. and Mrs. Thangaraj galvanized the community, obtained support from governmental and charitable organizations, and founded ANBAGAM in 1970 with 7 children. Mrs. Thangaraj became its first director and worked full time without pay to lead the institution through its infancy, raising money, hiring staff, supervising construction of the facilities and locating retarded children and bringing them to the institution.

By the mid 70's Anbagam was growing by leaps and bounds; the strength reached 72 children in 1977. As Mrs. Thangaraj had planned, the children were being taught essential personal skills such as brushing teeth, bathing, toileting and eating without assistance. Once past this stage, the children were taught to read, write and speak, and were trained to recognize and understand articles used in daily life. Meanwhile, Mrs. Thangaraj was also very active in the Madurai Diocesan Council of Catholic Women (DCCW) and the Madurai YWCA. As president of the YWCA she constructed nursery and primary schools and a hostel for working women. As president of the DCCW she constructed a hostel for working women, and day care centers (Balwadi and Creche). She was also elected president of the All India Council of Catholic Women for 1977.

As the first batch of Anbagam children grew and progressed beyond basic skills and education, Mrs. Thangaraj realized the need for vocational training, as several children, particularly the severely retarded, had reached the limit of their classroom educability. Mrs. Thangaraj raised money for and constructed facilities for dairy farming, poultry farming, agricultural farming, carpentry, cloth weaving, mat weaving, embroidery, tailoring, printing, composing, book binding and file making. These facilities were completed by the end of the decade, and in 1981 Mrs. Thangaraj received the Rotary Award "For dedicated service to mentally handicapped children. Also, as President of both the YWCA (Young Women's' Christian Association) and DCCW (Diocesan Council of Catholic Women) during the period 1968-79, she built two hostels for working women, three community centers, four Balwadis, a Creche and four Nursery/Primary schools where 1200 children are being educated."

The 1980s and 90s were decades of consolidation and slow, steady growth for Anbagam, as it assimilated the rapid growth of the 70s and built up the necessary support structures and infrastructure under the constant guidance and supervision of Dr. and Mrs. Thangaraj. The student strength passed 200, and the Institution won several prizes and awards, as did Mrs. Thangaraj. In 1984 Mrs. Thangaraj received the (All-India) Ram Kamal Sinha Memorial Medal, awarded by the Alakendu Bodi Niketan, Calcutta, as "The Social Worker of the Year, in India, for outstanding service to the mentally retarded". In 1992, the Disciples of Christ of USA and Canada, Division of Ministries, awarded special recognition to Mrs. Mary Thangaraj, Honorary Director of ANBAGAM, for her service to the mentally retarded. And in 2002, Mrs. Mary Thangaraj received the SREE RATNA award from the Pioneer Trust, Madurai, on World Women's' Day, for service rendered to children with disability.

In 1991, Mrs. Thangaraj realized her final dream, to build a college to train teachers in Special Education. The Suresh Bernard Thangaraj Teachers' Training College (SBTTTC), named after their mentally retarded son who had passed away two years earlier, opened in 1991. The college offers a B.Ed. course in Special Education, and is affiliated with Madurai Kamaraj University. The students of the college get hands-on training in working with the mentally retarded children of ANBAGAM.

Mrs. and Dr. Thangaraj spent the golden years of their lives keeping ANBAGAM going strong, and growing SBT College to its present strength, despite failing health. Three years after Dr. Thangaraj lost his battle with Myelodisplastic syndrome, Mrs. Thangaraj had a series of debilitating strokes and went into a coma, from which she never recovered. She joined her husband in heaven on August 27, 2006.