Marie Emily Ballweg

Born Marie Emily Young in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, she was brought to the Island when she was a little over a year old, moving with her family to Port Richmond. She had lived in Willowbrook since 1953.

After graduating from Port Richmond High School, she worked for Consolidated Edison during the day and went to college at night. She earned her bachelor of science degree in education from Wagner College, Grymes Hill, in 1950, and received her master's degree in guidance and counseling from the former Richmond College.

She and Frank Ballweg Jr. renewed their acquaintance while they were at Wagner and fell in love. They were married in 1953 in Our Lady of Mount Carmel-St. Benedicta R.C. Church in West Brighton.

Mrs. Ballweg taught at PS 26 in Travis and St. Mary of the Assumption School in Port Richmond. In 1957, she left full-time teaching to raise her family, but continued working as a substitute teacher and as a tutor for English-as-a-second-language students and others. She also was an adjunct professor at St. John's University, Grymes Hill.

She became a published author in 1977, writing children's books including "Reluctant Ronnie," which was about students with reading difficulties, and the books were praised by teachers and students. She was very proud of her work, family said.

Mrs. Ballweg was the former commander of the Halloran Memorial Chapter Disabled American Veterans Auxiliary, and a member of the Staten Island Poetry Society.

She liked to visit Spring Lake and Manasquan on the Jersey Shore, which she loved, and going to restaurants with her husband. She also was an enthusiastic New York Mets fan.

"She loved being a mother," said her daughter, Patricia (Pat) Ballweg. "She always supported her children's interests and activities, as well as their education."

Mrs. Ballweg was also very spiritual, her family said.

She was a parishioner of Holy Family R.C. Church, Westerleigh, and belonged to its Altar Rosary Society.

Frank, her husband of 54 years, died in 2007.

Surviving, along with her daughter, Pat, is her son, Frank.

The funeral will be Wednesday from the Casey Funeral Home, Castleton Corners, with a Mass at 9:45 a.m. in Holy Family Church. Burial will follow in Moravian Cemetery, New Dorp.