OBITUARY
Mary McCormack-Maciel
August 21, 1924 – February 3, 2021
Mary Catherine (Swift) McCormack-Maciel, wife to the late Walter McCormack and the late George Maciel, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, February 3, 2021. Known affectionately to her family as Molly, she is survived by her son Michael K. McCormack and daughter-in-law Cheryl of New Bedford and her son Patrick L. McCormack and daughter-in-law Mary of Jacksonville, Florida. Grandchildren include Jameson F. A. McCormack of Fall River, the late Sean M. McCormack of New Bedford, Michael D. McCormack of New Bedford and Jason A. McCormack of Jacksonville, Florida and step-grandchildren Shaun Olynick of Ellicott City, Maryland and Ryan Olynick of Jacksonville, Florida. Mary also leaves twelve great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren and many cousins in Australia.
Daughter of the late Gustavus Henry Swift and late Angelina (Carter) Swift, she was born August 21, 1924 in Sydney, Australia and was predeceased by her brother Kenneth Swift. She was a proud descendant of some of the first settlers to Australia with her family lineage continuing back to nearly 1300 A.D. in Ireland and England. She boasted such as ancestors, Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver’s Travels and Edmund Lewis Lenthall Swifte, the Attorney General of Ireland and the Keeper of the Royal Regalia in the Tower of London. In 1944, in the midst of World War II, Mary married New Bedford native Walter Francis McCormack (d. 1963) while he was serving aboard the U.S.S. Alhena (AKA-9), having met him while his ship was in Sydney for repairs from a Japanese attack. After her marriage Mary founded the Australian War Brides and Fiancées Association, a group which quickly rose to national prominence in Australia, with the intent of preparing the women who had married U.S. servicemen to travel to new homes half a world away. Mary, and a number of other Australian War Brides, boarded a troop ship bound for America before the conclusion of the war with Japan and were hounded by Japanese submarines as it sailed across the Pacific to the United States.
Mary was also married for ten years to George Maciel (d. June 1986) of New Bedford and had worked at a number of positions including Continental Screw, Star Plating, WNBH radio and WTEV Channel 6 television stations.
Extremely active in the community her entire life, Mary was a member of the St. James Monsignor Noon Circle, Catholic Guild for the Blind, founder the Parent-Teacher Association at the Congdon School and of Cub Scout Pack 19 at St. James Church.
She was, for many years, a member of the Board of Directors of the New Bedford Opportunity Center, a Trustee of the New Bedford Free Public, a member of the New Bedford Council on Aging and the New Bedford Friends of the Elderly. She also served as a Foster Grandparent and for over twenty years was a volunteer at the New Bedford City Hall Information Desk.
She enjoyed her memberships at the Waterfront Area Historic League (WHALe) and the Old Dartmouth Historical Society and is a past member of the New Bedford Junior Chamber of Commerce. Mary loved designing and painting scenery for the St. James Church Minstrel Shows. Beginning in the late 1950s and later joined Your Theatre she designed and painted scenery for many shows through 1970. She worked as a PACE volunteer, served for decades as a Precinct Captain for the New Bedford Election Commission and for a short while in the office of the Buttonwood Park Zoo during its first year of re-opening.
Mary was a familiar sight with her friend and second husband George Maciel at yard sales and flea markets as well as at their own tables at such places as the Whaling City Festival and Brimfield Flea Markets. She was known locally as an expert in Washington and Pairpoint glass and enjoyed collecting and exhibiting both at shows and auctions.
Anyone who knew her understood the passion she held for the local political process. She was an avid volunteer in the campaign offices of Congressmen Ed Brooke and Barney Frank, Councilor George Rogers, Mayors Edward Harrington, John Markey, John Bullard and Frederick M. Kalisz, Jr., She was also known for her keen support for Senators Ted Kennedy and John Kerry and for her close friend, former Councilor and Judge, Rosalind Poll Brooker.
In lieu of flowers please make donations in Mary’s memory in the name of Walter and Mary McCormack to the James West Fellowship Fund c/o the Narraganset Council Boy Scouts of America, PO Box 14777, East Providence, RI 02914. Her Funeral Mass will be Friday, April 9, 2021 at 11 a.m. in Holy Name of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish, 121 Mt. Pleasant St., New Bedford. Burial will follow in St. Mary's Cemetery, New Bedford. Services are under the direction of the ROCK FUNERAL HOME, 1285 Ashley Blvd., New Bedford, MA 02745. For online tribute: www.rock-funeralhome.com.
DONATIONS
-
James West Fellowship Fund
c/o Narragansett Council Boy Scots of America PO Box 14777 , Providence, Rhode Island 02914
Services
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Funeral Mass
Friday, April 9, 2021
-
Burial
Friday, April 9, 2021
Memories
Mary McCormack-Maciel
have a memory or condolence to add?
ADD A MEMORYPatrick & Mary McCormack
April 9, 2021
We want to thank everyone for their thoughts and shared memories. We will miss Mum, but we rejoice with her being reunited with her love on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Love and prayers to all.
Mary and Patrick McCormack
Meg Madonna
March 29, 2021
Michael,
I am truly sorry to hear of your moms passing. <3 It was evident that you were truly dedicated and committed to her. I hope you can find comfort and love through your memories. You're an angel.
Lissa Horan
March 29, 2021
Mike, I am so very sorry for your loss. You and your family are in my thoughts and prayers.
Aime Delaney
March 29, 2021
Dear Mike and McCormack Family,
Please know you are all in our prayers.
Take care,
The Delaney Family
Susan Fernandes
March 29, 2021
Mike and Family,
I am so sorry for your loss. You are all in my thoughts and prayers during this difficult time. May she rest in peace!
Danielle Gilmore
February 9, 2021
My precious great grandmother. Though
We lived far from one another. She would write letters to my siblings and I. And she would highlight each specific child, and I remember her saying she was praying for each one of us. She would also send us porcelain dolls to us girls. And some times I had the privilege to chat with her on the phone. She was so good to us kids even though we had only met in person once maybe twice. But her love for us was genuine.! She will be dearly missed and I am blessed to have known such a special woman of God.!
Blessings
Barbara Bonville
February 9, 2021
Mike, Cheryl and family,
Please accept my most sincere and deepest sympathy at this difficult time. After reading your mom's obituary, I really wished I could have known her. She was a wonderful woman.
I know comfort is hard to find at this time but there is solace in knowing that she has gone home. To paraphrase Kahlil Gibran: only when the earth has claimed your limbs shall you truly dance and only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing. Your mom has that kind if freedom now at home with our Lord. God bless you and your family. May your mom rest in peace and love forever.
Shalom,
Barbara Bonville
Christine Chapin
February 8, 2021
Mike,Cheryl Patrick and family first I am so sorry for your loss please accept my deepest condolences. Mary was amazing spent time talking yo her many times in city hall or out and about. I loved her dearly and hadn't seen her in a few years but I will always cherish our Friendship . Love you Mary Rest Well until We meet again. ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Angelita Drapela
February 7, 2021
We first met Nana Mary when she came to visit in Florida. She was like no other person I’ve ever met. With her adventurous stories and accent, we were mesmerized by her. I’m so glad I got the opportunity to spend that day with her because she left an imprint forever in my heart. I love you sweet lady. I know you’re happy in heaven! 💕💕
Roberta (Taylor)Ladetto
February 5, 2021
Aunt Mary and Uncle Wally were best friends with my parents, Red & Mimi Taylor. They had so many fun memories thru the years. Both Aunt Mary and my Mum, Mimi, were very artistically inclined. The height of their talent was when one day they both perched atop our kitchen stove and painted a large, beautiful rooster on the wall over it! Just one of many fun times with her. We loved Aunt Mary dearly and cherished her friendship. My condolences to her beloved "boys" and their families.
Patricia Souza (Whalen)
February 4, 2021
Mike, Patrick and family of Mary...our sympathies and prayers for you all...remembering your Mother fondly from our youth and gatherings of the “English girls” at the YW...special times...Pat (Whalen) Souza
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Biography
Mary Catherine (Swift) McCormack-Maciel, wife to the late Walter McCormack and the late George Maciel, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, February 3, 2021.
Known affectionately to her family as Molly, she is survived by her son Michael K. McCormack and daughter-in-law Cheryl of New Bedford and her son Patrick L. McCormack and daughter-in-law Mary of Jacksonville, Florida. Grandchildren include Jameson F. A. McCormack of Fall River, the late Sean M. McCormack of New Bedford, Michael D. McCormack of New Bedford and Jason A. McCormack of Jacksonville, Florida and step-grandchildren Shaun Olynick of Ellicott City, Maryland and Ryan Olynick of Jacksonville, Florida. Mary also leaves twelve great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren and many cousins in Australia.
Daughter of the late Gustavus Henry Swift and late Angelina (Carter) Swift, she was born August 21, 1924 in Sydney, Australia and was predeceased by her brother Kenneth Swift.
She was a proud descendant of some of the first settlers to Australia with her family lineage continuing back to nearly 1300 A.D. in Ireland and England. She boasted such as ancestors, Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver’s Travels and Edmund Lewis Lenthall Swifte, the Attorney General of Ireland and the Keeper of the Royal Regalia in the Tower of London.
In 1944, in the midst of World War II, Mary married New Bedford native Walter Francis McCormack (d. 1963) while he was serving aboard the U.S.S. Alhena (AKA-9), having met him while his ship was in Sydney for repairs from a Japanese attack. After her marriage Mary founded the Australian War Brides and Fiancées Association, a group which quickly rose to national prominence in Australia, with the intent of preparing the women who had married U.S. servicemen to travel to new homes half a world away.
Mary, and a number of other Australian War Brides, boarded a troop ship bound for America before the conclusion of the war with Japan and were hounded by Japanese submarines as it sailed across the Pacific to the United States.
Mary was also married for ten years to George Maciel (d. June 1986) of New Bedford and had worked at a number of positions including Continental Screw, Star Plating, WNBH radio and WTEV Channel 6 television stations.
Extremely active in the community her entire life, Mary was a member of the St. James Monsignor Noon Circle, Catholic Guild for the Blind, founder the Parent-Teacher Association at the Congdon School and of Cub Scout Pack 19 at St. James Church.
She was, for many years, a member of the Board of Directors of the New Bedford Opportunity Center, a Trustee of the New Bedford Free Public, a member of the New Bedford Council on Aging and the New Bedford Friends of the Elderly. She also served as a Foster Grandparent and for over twenty years was a volunteer at the New Bedford City Hall Information Desk.
She enjoyed her memberships at the Waterfront Area Historic League (WHALe) and the Old Dartmouth Historical Society and is a past member of the New Bedford Junior Chamber of Commerce.
Mary loved designing and painting scenery for the St. James Church Minstrel Shows. Beginning in the late 1950s and later joined Your Theatre she designed and painted scenery for many shows through 1970. She worked as a PACE volunteer, served for decades as a Precinct Captain for the New Bedford Election Commission and for a short while in the office of the Buttonwood Park Zoo during its first year of re-opening.
Mary was a familiar sight with her friend and second husband George Maciel at yard sales and flea markets as well as at their own tables at such places as the Whaling City Festival and Brimfield Flea Markets. She was known locally as an expert in Washington and Pairpoint glass and enjoyed collecting and exhibiting both at shows and auctions.
Anyone who knew her understood the passion she held for the local political process. She was an avid volunteer in the campaign offices of Congressmen Ed Brooke and Barney Frank, Councilor George Rogers, Mayors Edward Harrington, John Markey, John Bullard and Frederick M. Kalisz, Jr., She was also known for her keen support for Senators Ted Kennedy and John Kerry and for her close friend, former Councilor and Judge, Rosalind Poll Brooker.
In lieu of flowers please make donations in Mary’s memory in the name of Walter and Mary McCormack to the James West Fellowship Fund c/o the Narraganset Council Boy Scouts of America, PO Box 14777, East Providence, RI 02914. Her Funeral Mass will be Friday, April 9, 2021 at 11 a.m. in Holy Name of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish, 121 Mt. Pleasant St., New Bedford. Burial will follow in St. Mary's Cemetery, New Bedford. Services are under the direction of the ROCK FUNERAL HOME, 1285 Ashley Blvd., New Bedford, MA 02745. For online tribute: www.rock-funeralhome.com.