Mary Lacombe

LACOMBE, Mary (Cox) of Hillsdale, NJ. Beloved wife of the late Edward J. Lacombe. Mary passed away peacefully in her home and surrounded by her family on February 26th at the age of 95. Mary was born in the Bronx NY, to Irish immigrants, Hannah (Gilleran) Cox and James Cox. A graduate of St. Joseph College in Brooklyn, she spent her lifetime providing support to her ever-growing family and assistance to those less fortunate in her community. Following a move from Queens to Nassau County in 1959, the Lacombe family became parishioners at St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church in Amityville, NY. Mary joined the Rosary Society and volunteered her time in their Human Services Office. She utilized her many talents to help those in need and she demonstrated her enormous generosity by adopting a family of Vietnamese refugees. Mary provided them with shelter while successfully guiding them on a path to assimilation and citizenship. Her work in the Parkview Nursing Home in her hometown of Massapequa, NY, earned her recognition as Volunteer of the Year by NY State in 1980. Mary accomplished all of this while providing a very happy home to her husband, Eddie, and their eight children. Following her move to NJ in 1985, Mary joined Our Lady Mother of the Church in Woodcliff Lake and continued her volunteer work through their Outreach Ministry. She did this while being the perfect “Nana” to her eighteen grandchildren. Mary is predeceased by her sisters, Marguerite and husband Patrick Regan and their son Vincent, Gloria and husband Joseph Stabach, sister-in-law Rosemary Cox, and daughter-in-law Patricia Lacombe. She is survived by her siblings, Msgr. James Cox, Sr. Hannah Cox, John Cox and wife Patricia, and Thomas Cox. She was the beloved mother of Katherine and husband Jeffrey Benezra, Peter, Paul and wife Cynthia, James and wife Catherine, Ann and husband Thomas McCarthy, Mary and husband Donald Bonner, Denise and husband Dennis Lane, and Edward and wife Ilene. She will be forever missed by her grandchildren, Steven, David, Danielle, Michael Peter, Jessica, Michael Paul, Christopher, Gabriella, John, Fiona, Brian, Colin, Julia, Katherine, Anne, Sarah, Andrew, and Caroline, as well as great-grandchildren, Carol, Lillian, Anna, Liam, and Katerina. The Family will receive visitors at Becker Funeral Home, 219 Kinderkamack Road, Westwood, NJ on Monday, March 6th, 2-4 and 7-9PM. A Mass celebrating Mary's life will be held at R.C. Our Lady Mother of the Church, 209 Woodcliff Ave., Woodcliff Lake, NJ, on Tuesday, March 7th at 11:00 AM, followed by interment at Ascension Cemetery, Airmont, NY. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to: Sisters of the Presentation, Ministry to the Poor, 84 Presentation Way, New Windsor, NY, 12553.