Mary M Kresky

Mary McAniff Kresky, a lifelong New Yorker, died peacefully with family at her side in New York, NY on July 3, 2022 after a brief illness. She was 86.

Born in Manhattan on April 18, 1936 to Josephine (Toomey) McAniff, an educator, and John E. McAniff, a long-time professor at Fordham Law School, Mary attended Corpus Christi Grammar School in Morningside Heights (where she later served on the Board of Trustees), St. Walburga’s Academy on Riverside Drive at 140th Street, and the College of New Rochelle, from which she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in American History in 1958. She also did graduate work toward a Master of Arts in American History at Columbia University. After graduation from college, Mary taught secondary school in Mexico and New York.

In 1960, Mary began working for Governor Nelson Rockefeller, beginning a multi-decade association with Governor Rockefeller and his immediate family which continued long after her official retirement in 1994. After starting as a member of the staff of Room 5600 in 1960, she moved on to the research staff for Governor Rockefeller’s political campaigns, and later served as a Program Associate on the personal staff of the Governor. Beginning in 1965, Mary served as Assistant Secretary to the Governor. After that, she served on the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations and, in January 1974, Mary became Associate Director of the Commission on Critical Choices for Americans. She served as an Executor of the late Governor’s estate. Mary also served on the board of Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield from 1975 to 1988, and she volunteered as a tutor at Martin Luther King, Jr. High School for over twenty years.

A skilled and loyal executive, advisor, and confidante, Mary’s close ties to the Governor and his family were rarely on public display. Regarding Mary Kresky’s professional impact, former Nelson Rockefeller head speechwriter and biographer Joseph Persico wrote “Another insider was Mary Kresky, young, attractive, enormously well liked, and professionally as tough as a rivet. Kresky was involved in his key policy decisions and enjoyed an unusual rapport with Rockefeller – when she talked, he listened.”

In a long and successful professional career filled with significant accomplishments, both public and private, perhaps Mary’s most important work was on behalf of the Commission on Critical Choices for Americans (“CCCA”), for which she served as the Associate Director from 1974-1976. The CCCA was a groundbreaking bipartisan public policy initiative conceived by Governor Rockefeller and formed at the request of President Nixon to analyze “the impact of present world trends on the future security and wellbeing of the United States.” In addition to its substantive work, the CCCA was considered by some to be the launching pad for a Rockefeller run for President in 1976. The 40-member commission included Vice President Gerald Ford, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Secretary of the Treasury George Schultz, and Congressional leaders of both parties.

In addition to her many professional achievements, Mary’s excellent judgment caused family, friends, and colleagues to regularly seek her counsel, which she dispensed with compassion and discretion. If you had a problem, Mary Kresky was a very good person to help you think it through.

She was well-read and well-traveled and, as a result, spending time with Mary was not only enjoyable but also rewarding. Her generosity of spirit manifested itself in earnest engagement with people of all stripes. Mary’s view was that everyone had things worth knowing, and her probing questions and genuine interest often brought out the best in others. Mary was gracious, considerate, an outstanding listener, and had a lovely sense of humor. With her keen intelligence, upbeat demeanor, and vast reservoirs of kindness, Mary Kresky had admirers far and wide. We join the many who shall miss her dearly.

Mary is survived by her brother Edward J. McAniff (Jane); step-daughters Ann Kresky Banegas (Hector) and Susan Kresky Gallwey (Stephen); nephews and nieces John McAniff, Maura McAniff Johnson (Robin), Nancy McAniff Annick (Greg), Seana McAniff, Peter McAniff (Jerilyn), Kathleen McAniff Banta (Brad), Mary Jo Graham (Russell), and Terrence Graham (Denise); as well as grandchildren Jeremiah (Sara) and Abigail Banegas; Jane (Sam), Nicholas, and Anna Gallwey. Mary was pre-deceased by her loving husband of 40 years, Edward M. Kresky, her dear sister Anne McAniff Graham and Terrence Graham, and Mary’s beloved parents.

A funeral Mass to be celebrated by her lifelong friend and Corpus Christi School mate, Rev. Leo J. O’Donovan, S.J., will take place on Friday, September 16, 2022 at 10:30am at Corpus Christi Church at 529 West 121st Street, New York, New York, 10027. For additional information, please reach out to Mary’s nephew Peter at [email protected]