Mary Antonia (Flores) Feliciano

Born on August 27, 1940, in Manhattan, New York, Mary was the daughter of Angelo Flores and Rose Gordian, and wife to Gil Feliciano. She was the mother of four sons, Gilbert (Teresa), Paul (Karen), Joe, Ralph (Christy), and daughters, Linda and Mary (Trevor) Martin, grandmother to 21 grandchildren, and 30 great grandchildren.

She was born and grew up in Manhattan, then moved to the Bronx and attended Cathedral High School. Mary met her future husband, Gil, at her sweet 16 birthday party. They married in 1959 and soon started their family. They moved to Knoxville in 1972, where she stayed at home to raise their children, until the youngest, Mary, started Kindergarten. She worked part time at Business Envelope in Clinton and the local Dunkin Donuts in Knoxville until she started working full time as a nursing aide at Shannondale Nursing Home. In 1978, she attended Nursing School and became a licensed practical nurse, where she worked at Parkwest Medical Center for 12 years. She went on to home nursing, where she enjoyed more autonomy in assisting her patients. Mary loved taking care of her patients, who became part of her extended family, and she built many special relationships over the years.

Mary wanted to be a nurse since she was a little girl. Her cousin from Puerto Rico taught her how to swallow big pills when she was sick, without choking. Mary liked that her cousin was so nice to her and taught her medical stuff, and that’s where the seed was planted to go into the medical field.

She eventually retired at age 66, where she enjoyed going out to eat with her husband, Gil, and doing whatever they wanted without schedules hindering them. Mary loved reading, going out with friends, shopping and listening to records (back in the day). You would often hear her listening to recordings of The Platters or The Archies on their big Victrola downstairs.

Mary loved dogs. As a teenager, she grew up with a Collie named ‘Rusty’. They were big buddies, and she would walk him before and after school. Once the family moved to Knoxville, her sons convinced her to get a dog. In 1974, they got a German Shepherd, they named King, who became the beloved family dog.

Mom loved taking care of and feeding people. She often visited her daughter’s home to spend time with her children, cook, and clean. Linda loved coming home from work to smell a delicious dinner and see a clean house.

The family has great memories of trips to Melton Hill Lake for a day of swimming and picnicking. There was always a big crowd with fried chicken, Spanish rice, and all the trimmings to feed everyone.

Mary was a loving and giving woman. She had a generous heart to feed everyone and there was always food on the stove. The family has many memories of teenage neighbors visiting their home, walking into the kitchen and lifting pot lids to see what was for dinner.

As the mother of six children, Mary was naturally a strong and courageous woman. When the family first moved to Knoxville, Gil worked the graveyard shift (11P-7A), but she feared nothing, especially when it came to protecting their children. One night, when they were young, someone broke their window, and Mary went outside after them with a rolling pin. She was fearless!

Mom loved her sons, depended on her daughters, was a loving neighbor to most and will truly be missed.

A Receiving of Friends will be held on Monday, February 16th at 11:00 AM at Berry Highland West Funeral Home (9913 Sherrill Boulevard, Knoxville 37932). The service will follow at 12:30 PM with the Graveside service at 1:00 PM.

The pallbearers will be grandsons, Micheal Feliciano, Alex Feliciano, son-in-law Trevor Martin, grandson-in-law Scott Harper, grandson Wade Martin and great grandson Cayden Gouge.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (https://www.stjude.org) to honor her memory.