Mary was born in a family of
Lemkos Mykhailo and Hanna Voitovych-Bek in
Ford City,
Pennsylvania. In 1921-25 she studied at the Kolomyia city gymnasium in
Kolomyia,
Poland. In 1925-29 Mary Beck was a student at the
University of Pittsburgh upon graduation of which she received a
Bachelor of Arts. In 1932 she earned her
Bachelor of Laws degree from the same school. Since 1944 Mary Beck was a member of the
State Bar of Michigan. In 1968 she exchanged the
LL.B. degree for a
Juris Doctor degree. In 1930s Mary Beck was an active member of the
Ukrainian National Women's League of America. Since 1932-33 she was publisher and editor of "Zhinochyi Svit" (Woman's World), the Ukrainian woman's monthly magazine in
Pittsburgh. Mary was also editor of the English sections in such Ukrainian press media as "Ukrainska Zoria" (Ukrainian Star) in
Detroit and "Vilne Slovo" (Free Word) in
Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 1933-34 she was an active initiator of committee for setting up the Ukrainian Pavilion at the
Century of Progress Exposition in
Chicago. Mary came to
Detroit in 1934 initially as a social worker at the International Institute and since 1935 she worked as a juvenile court investigator for Wayne County until 1947. In 1947-50 she was a practicing lawyer and as such entered politics in 1950. After being elected to the Detroit city council Mary Beck discontinued her law practice, fully committing to the city politics from which she retired in 1970. In 1958 Mary established the Ukrainian Women's Literary Award in
Ukrainian literature, as of 2025, it is administered by the World Federation of Ukrainian Women's Organizations in
Philadelphia. In 1960 she also sponsored the Worldwide Ukrainian Art Exhibit at the MacGregor Center (
Wayne State University). In the
1969 Detroit mayoral election, Beck placed third in the nonpartisan
primary election, receiving 22% of the vote. She had run a single-issue campaign on the subject of crime control. She ran as a
write-in candidate in the general election, winning a minuscule share of the vote. Mary died in
Clinton Township and her final service was held in
Sterling Heights near
Detroit. She was buried at St. Andrew the First-Called Apostle Ukrainian Orthodox Cemetery in
South Bound Brook,
New Jersey. ==Awards and legacy==