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For 30 years, Mary Fry’s husband, Virgil, worked in construction. The pension he earned — $3,568 per month — was guaranteed to continue for Mary if he died first. But starting in April, three years after Virgil’s death from cancer, Mary’s payments were permanently reduced by more than half, to $1,514 per month. “It was quite a shock,” says Mary, 72, who lives in western Ohio and is a cancer survivor herself. “It’s worrisome, and I don’t think I need worry in my life right now.”
