Marcella Terese Kundrat

Marcella Terese Wooditch Kundrat, age 99, of Midland , Texas passed away quietly in her sleep at home early in the evening of January 11, 2025 with her granddaughter, Tatiana, and Judy, her daughter-in-law, nearby.

Marcella was born in a small coal mining town, Luzerne, Pennsylvania, on March 14, 1925 to the late Joseph Wooditch and late Angela (Ada) Bunoski Wooditch. She completed all of her primary and secondary education in Catholic schools in Luzerne and graduated from a Catholic High School there in 1943 during World War II. During the rest of the war Marcella lived at home in Luzerne, working in a dress factory and later doing secretarial work for a small local business. In 1946, shortly after World War II ended, she was hired by the Social Security Administration to work in their Baltimore, Maryland office. She loved her job, her living situation in a ladies only boarding house, the new friends she made and all the new life experiences she had. Unfortunately, a family emergency forced her to resign about 1.5 years later in 1947 and move back home to help her mother. Marcella’s brief time in Baltimore left her some gifts which helped her throughout her life: an independent mind and with it the ability to make decisions herself and also to question whether or not the opinion of various authority figures was valid or not. Shortly after moving back home she met George J. Kundrat and they started dating and were married in Luzerne on September 11, 1948. They were married 52 years when George passed away in 2001. Marcella spent the first few years of her marriage in Luzerne. In the early 1950’s George accepted a better job offer in suburban Philadelphia and George and Marcella bought a new house, in a new development, in Springfield, PA close to George’s work. They lived there 41 years. In January 1994 they sold the Pennsylvania house and moved to Midland, Texas into a house they purchased right around the block from their son Mark’s home. Marcella loved being out of the snow and ice, getting to see her only living granddaughter frequently and having lots of help with George as his health deteriorated.

Marcella loved to sew and it was a hobby she pursued until arthritis and failing eyesight set in about 7 years ago. She made clothes for herself and family members and decorative items like curtains, chair pads and pillow covers for her house. In Pennsylvania she made Christening Gowns and baby clothes for her church fair’s raffle every year. Of course, she made her granddaughter’s Christening Gown and lots of baby and toddler clothes for her. Marcella also loved flowers and had a green thumb. In Pennsylvania she had beautiful azalea and rhododendron bushes, iris beds, geraniums and a glorious peony bed. She also grew African Violets indoors. To the reliable iris and geraniums, in Midland she added: wisteria, jasmine, honeysuckle, and trumpet vines; Texas columbine, pansies and periwinkles. Until her eyesight deteriorated in the last few years, Marcella read extensively for pleasure. She read the newspaper, magazines and both nonfiction and fiction books. There was usually something bookmarked by her chair and on the side of her bed.

Marcella loved to travel: to see new landscapes, to see different trees, flowers and animals; to experience regional (U.S.) cultures, to experience new foods. In her younger years because of economic constraints travel was by car, with lots of camping and the occasional motel room throughout the northeastern and mid- Atlantic regions of the U.S. Once George retired, they had the time and funds to travel throughout the U.S. For 6 years they took a long car vacation of 4-6 weeks, staying with friends or family along their route but mostly staying in moderately priced motels (no more camping for Marcella). They took their time, stopping at all the sites of interest along the way. By the time they stopped traveling because of George’s health, Marcella had seen most of the National Parks and Monuments in the U.S. Some of her top U.S. travel experiences during this time were: hiking to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back up with George when they were both over 60; parking the car in Seattle, taking a cruise to Alaska along the Inside Passage, taking shore excursions to see Denali National Park and to see glaciers up close and actually walk on one; and flying to Hawaii for a 10 day trip. In 1988, Marcella, without George, traveled with a church group from the Philadelphia area to Medjugorje, Croatia to see the country of her parental grandparents’ birth and to make a pilgrimage to site in Medjugorje where apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary began in 1981.

Marcella was active in various groups in her church in Pennsylvania. She became a member of St. Stephen’s Catholic Church when she moved to Midland in 1994. Before her eyesight started to fail several years ago she was a member of the Rosary Society, a prayer group, and was signed up for an hour of Adoration every Tuesday morning. When she was more comfortable staying home because of her diminished eyesight she was still able to keep up with her work with the prayer group. Also, anytime the church had a bake sale, Marcella would bake 4-5 dozen cupcakes and several bundt cakes.

Marcella is preceded in death by: her parents, Joseph and Ada Wooditch; her sister, Helen Dikant; her son, Mark G. Kundrat; and a grandson, Garrett Lee Kundrat.

Marcella is survived by loving family members: daughter-in-law, Judith Kundrat; granddaughter, Tatiana Kundrat and her husband, Alex Toader; nephew and wife, Richard and Lorraine Dikant; niece, Faith Lavelle.

A memorial mass for Marcella will be held Friday, March 14, 2025 at 10:00 AM at St. Stephen's Catholic Church, 4601 Neely Ave, Midland, TX. There will be a committal at Resthaven Memorial Park 4616 N Big Spring, Midland,TX immediately following the memorial mass.