Obituary of Mary E. Monfred

MARY E. MONFRED Loudonville- Mary Elizabeth (Pesnicak) Monfred died on Friday, September 27, 2013 in her 97th year. Since August 2012 she's resided at the Eddy Village Green (House 21) inCohoes, but for over sixty years lived onCortland Drive, Loudonville. Born at home in December 1915, she grew up on Third Streetin Arbor Hill, where her father and many of its residents worked at the N.Y. Central R.R.'s West Albanycar shops. She attended Catholic elementary school; then attended the Albany H.S. Annex and graduated from the high school in 1935. (She quite enjoyed attending all of their reunions until the 69th.) One of her fondest memories was camping with her family atLakeMyosotis (Rensselarville) and their having to walk up the steep hill as her father "urged" their Model T to do likewise in reverse! Mary began her working career in the billing department of Warner Bros./Vitaphone, which was situated along "movie row" on Broadway inAlbany. During this time she married Edward Monfred in June 1938. Long before there was aStuyvesantPlaza or the state university, and whenFuller Road was only minimally paved and the end stop for theWestern Avenue bus, they built their first house onProvidence Street in 1940. When the family grew to three children, they moved to Loudonville in 1951. A sweet, placid, and pleasant woman, Mary enjoyed gardening, swimming, reading, and the many summers she spent at the family camp her husband built on theGreatSacandagaLake. While content with twenty-three years of domesticity, she relished the opportunity to rejoin the working world as the Arts Department secretary atSienaCollegein 1968. When she hesitantly retired in 1981, she left behind many dear friends: Jeannine (Dufort) Mannix, Mary Sokolowski, Professor Frank Madigan, and Peter A. Fiore, OFM. Later in life, she enjoyed the pleasures of grandchildren, gardening, swimming, holiday visits with family, senior trips, and several travel adventures toGermanyandItalywith her children. Mary was predeceased by her parents, Joseph (b. 1892) and Caroline (b. 1895) (Slovacek) Pesnicak and her siblings, Albina (Nestler), Joseph, and William. She was also predeceased by her loving husband, Edward, in 1996 and several dearCortland Driveneighbors over the years: Barbara Partelow, Jack and Gertrude Gleason, Tucker and Eleanor Jones, Al and Marie Pohl, and Carl Unger. Left as "orphans" to cherish her memory are her three children: Edward (Cathleen and daughter, Elizabeth Schmidt), Susan (Howard) Herrington of Cambridge, NY, and Mary (Les) Jackson of Alexandria, VA. She also leaves her three grandchildren, Matthew P. (Allyson) Herrington of Valley Falls, NY, and Emily and Alyssa Herrington; in addition to a newly minted grandson, Micah M. Herrington. Mary's youngest sister, Carolyn O'Neil, presently residing in Chattanooga, TN (formerly of Delmar) survives her, as do her neighborhood friends, Leonard Partelow, Mary ("Mimi") Unger, Bob and Nancy Benjamin, Pat Loz, Cheryl Seymour, and others. Many thanks also go out to the wonderful people who loved and cared for her at House 21. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Friday October 4, 2013 at 10:30 a.m. in St. Pius X Church 23 Crumite Rd, Loudonville by Father Michael Farano, preceded by a brief family viewing. Interment will be in Memory Gardens Cemetery,Watervliet-Shaker Rd., Colonie. In lieu of any flowers, please keep Mary in your hearts and remember her dearly. If you wish, donate to a worthy cause in her name or to the Standish Library,Siena College, Loudonville,NY 12211. For information or to light a memory candle for the family please visit www.dufresneandcavanaugh.com