Marie C. Zator, devoted mother to five children, loving grandmother to six grandchildren, and proud great grandmother of six young children under five-years-old slipped peacefully from our embrace on Sunday November 21, 2021. Her entire extended family recognizes the blessing we have had with her as our guide, greatest advocate, and friend.
Mom lived for nearly a century with a sharp mind and great wit. She was a brilliant communicator, and we are the fortunate beneficiaries of her vast collection of memories and colorful stories.
Born in Brooklyn, NY on May 26,1926, Marie was the second of four children of John V. and Anna (Hartigan) Cleary. She was raised in Little Flower Parish where her mother attended daily mass and her father coached Little Flower baseball. Her parish priest would walk down her block on East 42nd street visiting neighbors and recruiting altar servers for Sunday mass. As a youngster she would listen to The Lives of the Saints on the radio. Her mother gathered with neighbors to pray the rosary together weekly. Our mother had a strong beginning to a deep and abiding Faith.
A witness to so much changing history Mom recalled the sight of milk being delivered to her neighborhood by horses, the sound of Charles Lindbergh’s plane flying overhead, and the thrill of cheering Frank Sinatra at the stage door. Ebbets Field was on her father’s mail route and Mom grew up as a loyal Brooklyn Dodgers fan and enthusiastic spectator of sports. On December 7, 1941 she was in attendance at a Giants vs. Redskins football game at the New York Polo Grounds when she learned of an attack on Pearl Harbor that led to her country’s entrance into World War II. As a teen she would listen to radio broadcasts of news on the war and take notes on what she learned from the field. She was always a patriot and loved history and our American flag. On VE Day, 1945 Mom was a young woman leaving work in Manhattan when the city erupted in joy.
Mom met her husband George at a Catholic dance when World War II ended. He had returned home from service in the U.S. Army Air Force and was struck by her overall demeanor he told us. We expect he meant she was beautiful, talented, articulate and delightful. She had graduated Valedictorian of her high school class and was a good match for his debate skills. They married in June 1948, and began a 53-year marriage, devoting themselves to raising five children and providing them with every opportunity for education and enrichment. Mom moved the family home seven times during those years. She was an expert homemaker drawing on her many artistic talents and skill as seamstress, paperhanger, painter, gardener and handyman. She seemed to do it all effortlessly and perfectly. We were blessed.
White Plains, NY was the home her grandchildren knew and loved. Their “Giggy” was a master of play, engaging each of their individual talents and interests and creating magical holiday gatherings that are held as treasured memories.
When Dad died in 2001, Mom carried on with characteristic vigor, eventually moving with daughter Joanne to Cape Cod in 2004. There our artist of the everyday made one more lovely home for us to enjoy.
Following a hospital admission in December 2019, Mom moved to a long-term care facility due to frail health and the need for nursing care. Only a month later the global pandemic would require her isolation from us, as she was cared for in a home we could not visit. The strength, courage, love, and grace she demonstrated during those challenging times typifies the manner in which she lived her life. “We’ll get through this”, she said. “I am fine and well cared for.” “I have everything I need right here”, she would say pointing to her head and placing a hand over her heart.
She also had a little flip phone with each of her five children’s numbers on speed dial. We would receive her calls daily. Not only did she keep up with all the details of our days but she also reported all the news we need to hear including advice from The Garden Lady, The Handyman, The Weather Channel, or the celebrant of a televised mass.
Mom always lived with gratitude and despite her diminished hearing, low vision, and pandemic masks, she was able to express her appreciation to all of her caregivers who supported her at The Pavilion. We were often told how much she was loved there. We will always be grateful for that.
No one goes through this life without pain and suffering and Mom had her share of darkness and challenge. It is the way she met those challenges and carried on in the light that makes her an inspiration.
She was truly our guiding light!
Mary (John) Hayes
Barbara (Philip) Tully
George Francis Zator
Jean Marie (Robert) Mitchell
Joanne Zator
Beloved grandmother to
John Hayes and Maureen Hayes Ursino
Brendan Tully and Colin Tully
Laura Mitchell Baker and Gregory Mitchell
Proud Great Grandmother to
Emerson and Ryann Hayes
Emilia and Gabriel Ursino
Beatrice Baker and Landon Mitchell
On November 30,2021, her Funeral Mass was celebrated at Our Lady Queen of Peace Chapel followed by burial at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, NY.