With timing that would presage a long life as a night owl, Mary Virginia Petrone was born at 8:45 in the evening on August 24, 1928, in Tuxedo Hospital, Tuxedo Park, New York to Mary Kelly Petrone and Fredrick William Petrone.

Mary’s parents had come to the gilded yet rustic environs of Tuxedo Park to work in service – she as a chambermaid; he as a chauffeur – for the town’s well-heeled residents. They met on a blind date. Their employers included New York insurance lawyer Howard Van Sinderen and, most notably, Frederick and Margaretta “Daisy” Spedden, a couple who, along with their son Douglas, had the wherewithal and good fortune to both sail on the maiden voyage of the Titanic and to survive its sinking.

As an only child, Mary was doted on by her parents. Loving entries provided by her mother in Mary’s baby book note that Mary was Christened, September 9^th, 1928, took her first steps on February 28, 1929, and got her first tooth about six weeks later.

Mary attended elementary school at the Church of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Tuxedo, and continued her education at Tuxedo High, where she appeared as an “Acolyte” in the school play “The Reluctant Dragon.” She graduated in 1946 and continued her education by commuting to Manhattan for the Scudder School’s One Year Secretarial Course, graduating in 1947.

After her mother’s death in 1953, Mary continued to live and work in Tuxedo, staying close to home to care for her father. He was a baseball fan, and they attended many Yankees games together. He died in 1963. She never went to Yankee Stadium again.

Mary then began her life as a big-city career girl, setting out on her own in New York City and moving into Manhattan’s Stuyvesant Town complex. Over a decades-long career she worked as a secretary for chemical products giant Rohm and Haas and textile firms such as Dundee Mills, Dan River, JP Stevens and United Elastic Corporation until her retirement in 1991.

A devoted animal lover, Mary’s pastimes included stamp collecting, opera, ballroom dancing, bowling (she won numerous trophies) and a love of travel which introduced her to many people who went on to become lifelong friends. She traveled extensively, especially in her retirement years, throughout the U.S. and around the world, visiting Canada, the U.K., Spain, Italy, France, Sweden, Greece, Panama, Ecuador, Colombia, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands and the West Indies. She reminisced fondly of those travels, but also told an interviewer a few years ago that she had really hoped to go to the moon.

Mary was a keen letter writer, exchanging correspondence with friends and family around the globe. Her childhood comfort with people from far ends of the social spectrum led to epistolary contacts that included such notables as Ed Koch, Malcolm Forbes, multiple members of the Kennedy family, New York Cardinals Egan and O’Connor and the Prince of Monaco. In response to her written praise of an exhibit of his collection of Faberge eggs, Malcom Forbes told Mary, “I can’t tell you how much you’ve just made this old man’s day!”

Mary was very social -- a member of Marble Collegiate Church’s weekly Prime Time Seniors lunch gathering and a frequent participant in activities at Stuyvesant Town’s Community Center. She was charitable, giving her time to the Veteran’s Administration Voluntary Service Program and whatever money she could spare to her church, Immaculate Conception, and many Catholic charities.  

As a devout Catholic, Mary earned a Perfect Attendance Award from Immaculate Conception in 1991. Her generosity extended to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, the Battleship Missouri Memorial and political campaigns of both parties, though she obeyed her mother’s instructions and remained a registered Democrat till the end.

Proud of her Irish/Italian heritage, Mary had her parents’ names registered on the American Immigrant Wall of Honor at Ellis Island in 1986.

At the age of 84, Mary began her star turn in the media, appearing as a spokesperson for New York’s Citymeals-on-Wheels program in print ads, on billboards and in social media alongside world renowned chefs Daniel Boulud, Scott Conant and Marc Forgione. In 2020, Mary’s voice was featured in a short film documentary for Red Bull Storytellers titled, “They Saw the Sun First,” which explored themes of youthfulness, fear, regret and aging.

After nearly sixty years residence in Stuytown, where she was a well-recognized and well-loved figure, Mary moved into the Upper East Side Rehabilitation Center, with hopes of still returning home. While bed-ridden most of her time in rehab, she remained engaged and enthusiastic and was a favorite of the staff. And though she was uncharacteristically withdrawn in her last days, Mary showed no signs of discomfort or pain and died February 23, 2022 at the age of 93.

Mary is survived by cousins Katherine Silverii, Ed Silverii, Chris Silverii, John Todaro, Cynthia Connolly, Alicia DeSena, Russell DeSena and goddaughter Sally LaCorte.  There are also numerous cousins in Ireland, England, Australia and New Zealand and a large circle of friends who loved her like family.