Mary Stecko Fellows

Mary was born on April 17, 1933, in Dover, New Jersey, and grew up on a farm in Hackettstown, New Jersey, during the Depression years. She was a first generation American and the youngest of four children of immigrant parents from Ukraine and Poland. After graduating from Hackettstown High School, she was the first in her family to attend college. She graduated from Centenary College in Hackettstown, New Jersey, with an Associate Arts degree in 1952.

Upon graduation from college, Mary and her best life-long friend, Joan Ballard, also of Hackettstown, New Jersey, departed for New York City in search of work and a better life. Mary's parents and siblings tried to persuade her to stay in Hackettstown, but Mary demonstrated her independence and desire for adventure by leaving rural New Jersey for New York City. Mary quickly obtained an administrative assistant position at Continental Can Corporation and eventually became an administrative assistant at Trans World Airlines in New York City. She later met her husband, Henry D. Fellows, an executive at TWA, and they married in December, 1953.

Mary and Henry settled in Eastchester, New York, and had four children, Hank, Walter, Bill, and Cathy. Through Henry's executive work at TWA, the family traveled extensively throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, and Africa during the 1960s and 1970s. Travel was very important to the entire family, and all of the family members learned flexibility, ingenuity, and resilience in traveling throughout the world.

In 1979, upon Henry's retirement, Mary and Henry moved to Coral Springs, Florida. Mary became active in her daughter Cathy's schools, Maplewood Elementary and Pine Crest School, and she remained in Coral Springs, Florida, after Henry's passing in 1986. Mary was very active in community affairs in Coral Springs during her more than 44 years living there. She was an active member of the GFWC Coral Springs Woman's Club, a non-profit charitable organization created to help the Coral Springs community. Also, one of Mary's more adventurous activities was participating in the Coral Springs Citizens Police Academy.

During her decades in Coral Springs, Mary embraced her role as a grandmother, affectionately being called GrandMary. With boundless energy, she was always up for an adventure—whether it was traveling to fun places (especially Disney World) with her grandchildren or turning the living room into a wrestling ring filled with laughter. She loved hosting everyone at her Coral Springs home, and no gathering was complete without her lovingly prepared meals, each one a testament to her devotion, patience, and the deep happiness she found in bringing her family together around the table. Her pancakes were renowned, and she always made sure the table had freshly baked Christmas sugar and chocolate chip oatmeal cookies and lots of jelly beans.

Mary's swimming pool offered everyone endless fun, and GrandMary never hesitated to join in with everyone for a swim. Her family will always remember her Florida garden which she lovingly tended, even if it meant climbing a ladder to trim the hedges well into her 80s. When it was time for family members to leave Mary's Florida home, she loved to send them off with loaves of her delicious cinnamon bread.

From 2009 until 2021, Mary served as the primary caregiver for her son, Walter, who suffered from primary-progressive multiple sclerosis. She was a long-time financial contributor to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and devoted to Walter's care. After Walter passed away in 2021, Mary began to plan moving from Coral Springs, Florida, to Atlanta, Georgia, to be in the same community with at least one of her children and grandchildren.

In September, 2023, Mary moved from Coral Springs to St. Anne's Terrace in Atlanta, Georgia. Mary enjoyed living at St. Anne's Terrace very much and, after only a few weeks, declared St. Anne's as "my home." Mary enjoyed her many friends at St. Anne's among the residents and staff associates, and she particularly enjoyed cultivating flowers and maintaining her garden box.

Mary was also able to spend quality time with her son and daughter-in-law, Hank and Pam Fellows, her grandchildren, Chris, Susie, and Thomas Fellows, Chris' wife, Kathryn, Susie's husband, Ross, and her seven great-grandchildren, Henry, Amelia, and Robert Fellows, and Maddie, Hannah, Ollie, and Poppy Tulloch. Mary also enjoyed visits from her son, Bill, her daughter-in-law, Julia, and their children William and Elise from California, and her daughter, Cathy Jaquette, her son-in-law, Scott Jaquette, and their four sons, Tyler, Matthew, Dylan, and Nathan from Virginia.

During 2024, Mary began experiencing complications from three leaking heart valves, and she had multiple hospitalizations at Piedmont Hospital to treat her heart disease. Notwithstanding her physical challenges, Mary refused to give up, and she valiantly enjoyed life until her passing on February 18, 2025, at the age of almost 92 years. Mary very much appreciated the superb care by her caregivers from Personal Care, Inc., and from Inspire Palliative and Hospice Care, Inc.

In the weeks before her passing, Mary expressed to her family that she had a sense of gratitude for a wonderful, long life with lots of grandchildren and great-grandchildren and her friends at St. Anne's. Mary's family and friends will miss her keen sense of humor, wit and her determination to live life to the fullest.

The family will conduct a memorial service for Mary during the Spring of 2025, her favorite time of year. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, memorials be made via donations in Mary's name to Centenary University of Hackettstown, New Jersey, formerly Centenary College; the GFWC Coral Springs Woman's Club; or to your local public library in recognition of Mary’s lifetime love of reading.