Mary Marone

Mary Marone passed away peacefully at home in Brockport NY on Dec. 19th 2024. Mary was born on Sunday May 26th 1929 in Camden New Jersey to loving parents Edna and Frank and brother Frank Jr. They lived in Philadelphia, PA and her father worked in the automobile industry and her mother was a cleaner and occasional teacher. Mary inherited a strong work ethic early in life and maintained a hardworking spirit throughout her life. She was always ready to do things herself and that included mowing her lawn and maintaining a big vegetable garden even at the age of 95. 

Mary’s family moved to Palmyra NY when she was in grade school and started a new life running a small farm. She was an expert farmer and knew how to operate a tractor as well as how to cook and use every part of an animal. She passed on these values to her children who learned the fun of riding on a stone boat behind a tractor to pick up stones and clear the garden for planting. Mary was an expert seamstress and continued to make clothes, quilts and many other things right up until her last days.

Mary graduated high school in 1947 and attended SUNY Brockport where she studied to be a school teacher. At Brockport State and as part of the part time job at Batavia Downs that put her through college, she met her future husband Pat, who had recently returned from serving in active duty in the Navy. Mary graduated in 1951 cum laude with a BS in Education and married Patrick in 1951. They became school teachers in Batavia NY and then Greece NY where Mary raised their family of four children. 

Mary restarted her work out of the home in 1973 when she moved with her sons to Brockport. She was part of the transition to a digital business model and she first sold small business software and then started a company with her son Daniel, DANMAR, that installed and maintained office computing- cost estimating software for large machine shops. Mary continued to work as a software consultant well into her 80’s. For the last 40+ years of her life she enjoyed traveling, working outdoors and volunteering in multiple settings with her husband Skeeter Van Marter. She was a long-time, dedicated member of Greece Baptist Church, where she served as Church School Director and coined the phrase “God is not asking about your ability – Just your Availability.” Mary was a hard-working volunteer with the Greece Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps and a competition driver in a Road Rally team with the Corvair Club of Rochester. She was never afraid of work and her volunteer efforts were extensive, including serving as Treasurer of the Seymour library, Brockport, NY, the Women’s health initiative, and the Country Neighbors Quilters Guild that she was a member and treasurer. She was an avid baseball fan and always a season ticket holder of the Rochester Red Wings as well as a big fan of PennState football.

Mary is survived by two sons, Paul (Barb) and Chris (Eliza), and was preceded in death by her son Daniel and her daughter Mary Alice. She will be missed by many, many people including her eight grandchildren: Kristina, Brian (Alysia), Wendy (Jared), Victoria (Marius), Daniel (Susan), Linda, Constantino, and Massimo, and seven great grandchildren: Emily (Ivan), Erin, Ashlyn, Maizie Alice, Finley Joy, Olaus, Ada Solveig and Roman, and great-great granddaughter Aliyah.

Interment Private. A celebration of life will be held in 2025. 

Donations to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society are welcome (https://givenow.lls.org)