Obituary of Mary Ann Bodek

Mary was born in Glen Lyon, a coal-mining town in northeastern PA. She was the daughter of Polish immigrants - Frank and Kathryn Laskowski. Her father was a coal miner; her mother was a hard-working homemaker. Mary graduated from Newport Township High School in 1939 and moved to Detroit, MI where she supported the war effort by working as a quality control specialist on the wing production line for B-29 bombers at Briggs. In 1943 Mary married Lynn (Bud) J. McClure, Jr. and they made their home in Lewistown, PA. In 1945 she gave birth to her only child, Carol. Shortly after, her marriage ended in divorce. Mary and Carol moved to Glen Lyon to live with Mary's parents and she worked in local sewing factories. In 1959, Mary married Albert J. Bodek of Sheatown, PA and they settled in Allentown, PA, where she was employed by the Western Electric Company as a quality control specialist until retiring after 20 years service. Throughout her life, Mary loved baking, collecting cookbooks and sharing recipes with friends. She was very fond of needlework, especially knitting, needlepoint and counted cross stitch. In retirement Mary continued to be active as a volunteer with the Western Electric Pioneers on a variety of community projects. She particularly enjoyed the "Clown Group", going to "clown school" and then visiting children's hospitals, nursing homes, and the Special Olympics. She participated in the Hug-a-bears project, sewing thousands of bears that were distributed to police and fire stations to be distributed to children at time of crisis. Mary moved to Herndon, VA in 1998 to live with her daughter and son-in-law, Carol and Bill Gay. For the past four years she was a resident of Heritage Hall in Leesburg, VA. She was able to enjoy her time there visiting with friends, participating in activities where she was a regular at bingo and arts and crafts. She was especially fond of the caring staff at Heritage Hall. Mary was preceded in death by her husband Albert, her twin sister Celestine, and siblings Henrietta, Edward, Wanda, Joseph, Stanley and Loretta. Mary is survived by her daughter and son-in-law Carol and Bill Gay; grandson Christopher and his wife Lora Walters of Sidney NE; grandson Eugene and his partner David Thompson of Denver, CO; and five great-grandchildren, Christina, William, Kathryn, Laurén and Bryn. A burial mass will be held for Mary at Holy Spirit Parish - St. Adalbert's Roman Catholic Church in Glen Lyon, PA; interment will be at St. Mary's Cemetary in Wanamie, PA.