Mary was born at home on a farm in North Java. She was the fourth child of nine to Jerome and Irene Gebel. She was sandwiched between her only two brothers. This fostered the
"I can do anything you can do" mentality that stayed with her her 97 years.
If she felt she could do something, she would put her mind to it and indeed accomplish it.
The day she turned 16 her father pulled her out of school to work on the family farm
in spite of pleadings from her mother and herself. She was an A student and loved to learn.
She won the Buffalo News spelling be and won a dictionary she had the rest of her life.
She left the farm in her late teens and had varied jobs. She worked at the Warsaw Knitting Mill,
the North Java hotel, for Edith/Charles Reisdorf and for Bernadine B/ill Campbell- where she was Bills gymnastics partner putting on a couple shows. She gave haircuts and perms to anyone that wanted one which prompted her to go to the Roberts Beauty School in Buffalo
At the age of 27 she married Robert McCormick and went back to farm life. They had 7 children
in 8 years. She had a beauty shop(room) in her home and cut hair with little tikes always at her feet. It could be said she was an early multitasker. To help ends meet she became the Postmaster at the North Java post office. She was there for 25 years. She still cut hair, often on her lunch hour.
The grandchildren started coming and she was there to help whenever needed. She now has 12 grandchildren and 7 greatgrandchildren.
She was very active in her church at St Patrick's in Java Center running the religious education
for over 20 years. If there was an activity involving her church you can bet Mary was involved.
It can be said that she never lacked for giving of her time or talent.
The last 17 years of her life she lived in East Aurora near her daughter, Molly, where she would help out at her medical office into her early 90's. The farm, however, never left her, often making the trip out
to the family farm. Now run by her youngest son, Walter, and helping him disk a field, can syrup
or anything needed doing. She never gave up her shears cutting hair into her 90's.
She was famous for her sweet rolls which she took to nearly every family event. Her grandchildren
will tell you it was her homemade buttermilk pancakes that they came to know and love her for. She was a role model to those who touched her life. She never backed away from any task that
life threw her way. She was a blessing to us all.
She is survived by children; John(Kim), Ed(Kathy), Beth(Larry) Cade, Ellen Robbiano, Molly (Brian) Zittel and Walter( Vanessa). Grandchildren; Joshua (Samantha) Cade, Adam (Jasmine) McCormick, Nathan (Celeste) McCormick, Noah (Carrie) Cade, Justin McCormick, Lorna-Jane (Joseph) Connolly, Sarah (Matt Caryl) Robbiano, Mary Zittel, Jennie Robbiano, Peter Zittel, Emily McCormick and Jacob McCormick. Greatgrandchildren; Leila, Delaney, Levi, Connor, Brennan, Hadley and Rowan, She has one living sister, Marian Lefort. She is predeceased by her husband Robert and son Charlie.
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