Mary T. Eade

Olean- Mary T. Eade

Surrounded by loving members of her immediate family, Mary T. Eade of Olean passed away peacefully at Olean General Hospital on Tuesday, May 23, following a short illness.

On February 13, 1926, in Utica, New York, Mary became the tenth of the twelve children born to her parents, Anna and Dahar Joseph. She attended Proctor High School in Utica but left school early to help her family and to contribute to the war effort, as did so many women when millions of men joined the armed forces during the Second World War. She was especially proud of having been cited for her proficiency in the assembly of howitzer shells during the war.

 On September 9, 1945, at St. Louis Roman Catholic Church in Utica, she married Joseph K. Eade of Olean. They remained married for seventy-two years until Joseph died in 2018. Together they raised six children and through their remarkable dedication and frugality celebrated the graduations of all six of their children from various colleges and universities in New York State. In order to “stay up with her children,” as she later put it, Mary eventually earned her high-school equivalency diploma and then excelled at courses she took at the Olean campus of Jamestown Community College.

Mary was very active in community affairs. For example, together with her husband she served as co-president of the Olean High School PTA and she frequently assisted at events sponsored by St. Joseph School and St. Joseph Maronite Catholic Church, of which congregation she was a member for many decades.

Mary very much enjoyed playing Bridge and was well-known in the Olean area for her competence at that game. Her greatest joy, though, came in seeing and communicating with her large family. She taught herself how to use a computer and how to use e-mail. Eventually she mastered digital cameras, color printers, and their associated scanners. She did not let waning mobility keep her from reading her favorite authors; in her final years she read hundreds of novels that her children sent to her iPad.

Mary is survived by five of her six children—Richard (Carol) of Cooper City, Florida; Alan (Connie) of Timonium, Maryland; Valerie of Bibra Lake, Western Australia; David (Betsy) of Clermont, Florida; and Sharon (Michael) Mikolanis of Los Alamos, New Mexico. She also leaves behind thirteen grandchildren, fifteen great-grandchildren, her devoted sister Christine Leone of Utica, New York, and many nieces and nephews.

Mary was predeceased by her husband, Joseph Eade, and by a daughter, Diane Eade of Denville, New Jersey.

After a private burial, Mary will rest in the Katter Eade family plot at St. Bonaventure Cemetery in Allegany, New York. A memorial service for Mary will be held at St. Joseph Maronite Catholic Church in Olean on July 10 at 11:00 A. M. A reception will follow at the church immediately after the service. Arrangements are under the direction of the Letro-McIntosh-Spink Funeral Home, Inc., 646 E. State St., Olean. Online condolences may be made at www.letromcintoshspinkfuneralhome.com

 Those who wish to honor Mary may send donations, in lieu of flowers, to St. Joseph Maronite Catholic Church, 1102 Walnut Street, Olean, New York, 14760.