Mary Janet Hebert

Mary Janet “MJ” Hebert of Stamford, Connecticut passed away on October 16, 2023 at age 81 at the Waveny Care Center in New Canaan, Connecticut.

MJ was born in 1942 in Elizabeth, New Jersey to Frederick R. and Mary (Sanko) Casciano. She was the third of their four children and their only daughter. MJ filled the world with joy and laughter, thriving off the energy from people and social interaction. She always found the humor in everyday life and enjoyed sharing laughter with others. MJ had outsized curiosity and determination, which endured even through her long struggle with Alzheimer’s disease.

MJ was raised in Linden, New Jersey, where her father worked as a tool and die maker and her mother was a homemaker. With a strong work ethic and a mind for math, MJ was an honor roll student at Linden High School. She attended Douglass College, the women’s college of Rutgers University, graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics in 1964. During her years at Douglass, MJ forged many lifelong friendships. She was elected to the college chapter of Pi Mu Epsilon, the honorary national mathematics society, and became an ardent advocate for women’s higher education.

After her graduation, MJ moved to New York City. As a young woman and a math major, she expected to pursue a career as a math teacher. But upon landing her first professional job as a systems analyst at UNIVAC (Universal Automatic Computer), a division of the Sperry Rand Corporation, she joined the small but mighty ranks of women in the early computer, data processing, and software industries. MJ loved being a part of the dynamic new field that accompanied the rise of mainframe computers. She fondly recalled her years in New York City—from her shared apartment with Douglass College friends at the Hotel des Artistes, to the excitement of overseas travel to destinations like Norway, Italy, Spain, Morocco, and Bermuda.

In New York, MJ met Alvin Edward Hebert III, the man who would become her lifelong husband. Al was introduced to MJ by her eldest brother, Peter. A long first phone conversation quickly led to a first date at a cozy Italian restaurant in Greenwich Village. MJ and Al married in 1972 in New York City, surrounded by friends and family. In the years to follow, MJ and Al welcomed their children Karen and Peter. They also relocated several times—to Rochester, New York; Richmond, Virginia; and Kinnelon, New Jersey—before settling in Stamford, Connecticut in 1981.

As the family moved, MJ continued her work with Univac 1100 computer systems, initially at Univac (later Unisys) in Rochester and subsequently at installation sites that included Bessemer Trust in Newark, New Jersey and the Burndy Corporation in Norwalk, Connecticut. MJ spent the final years of her professional career at DataViz, Inc. in Trumbull, Connecticut, where she developed software that enabled communication between Mac and PC computing systems. MJ relished her work relationships and supplying her colleagues with jokes, doughnuts, and other treats, office routines she continued until her retirement in the early 2000s.

Above all, MJ was devoted to her family and friends. She was a source of steadfast support to Al and her children Peter and Karen, and she maintained close ties with many friends and relatives, especially her much-loved brothers, cousins, nieces, and nephews. She celebrated their joys with thoughtful, everyday creations like welcome home banners, spaghetti dinners, and trips into New York City. MJ appreciated the simple things in life and found them in her daily rituals—the New York Times crossword puzzle, Sudoku, and solitaire. She loved musical performances, theatre, walks, and beach vacations, from the Jersey Shore to Santa Rosa Beach on the Florida Panhandle to Block Island off the coast of Rhode Island. A resident of Stamford for more than 40 years, she was deeply involved in the local community, volunteering at the Board of Education, the Nature Center, St John’s Episcopal Church, and the First Congregational Church of Stamford.

Among others far and wide, MJ leaves behind her husband Al, brother Richard, children Karen and Peter, and three grandchildren: Felix, Gigi, and Alexander. She was predeceased by her parents and her brothers Peter and Fred. MJ will be dearly missed.