Mary Alice Atkinson

Mary A. Atkinson, family matriarch and lifelong resident, died peacefully at her Orchard Park home. Age 98, Mary was born in the Parkside neighborhood of North Buffalo, was a graduate of St Mark School '40, Holy Angels Academy '44 and Buffalo State College '48. She enjoyed an adventure filled youth with her large maternal family in Tonawanda and grandfather Captain Louis Hartman, a Great Lakes sea captain, summers in New England with an equally large paternal side, her grandfather Dr. Charles Ryan of Ware, Massachusetts. She was the eldest of four with younger brother James, Madison CT, pre-deceased, and two younger sisters, Kathy, Jamison, PA and Margaret, Manlius, NY; a proud aunt of 12 nieces and nephews. The story of her schoolgirl friends riding bikes down to Black Rock, talking their way onto a small plane and flying out over the Niagara River is a classic 1930’s tableau. College summers took her to Adirondack and Thousand Island resorts including the Lake Placid Club and Association Island where she met her husband Denny, a decorated WWII combat veteran. They met in a “bucket line” late one night toting water to help douse a spectacular fire ravaging the local GE Executive clubhouse. The building was saved, and a lifelong romance was sparked. Afte graduating Buffalo State Teachers College, she taught in Belleville and Herman, NY schools. Married in Buffalo, the young couple lived in Potsdam NY while Denny completed his BS at Clarkson College. They moved back to Parkside in 1949 and their first daughter Barbara was born in 1950. They built their first and only house and moved to the Village of Orchard Park in 1956 where Mary would spend the next 69 years. She raised her family and was active in the community including President of the OP Woman’s Club, an officer in both Orchard Park Gourmet and Book Clubs, and volunteered extensively for Hospice and FISH. She was a generous supporter of the OP Public Library and a longtime member of the Orchard Park County Club. As an empty nester, Mary and Denny enjoyed winters in Florida and traveled extensively in North America and Europe. Most days you could find Mary with a book, a passion she has handed down to her children and grandchildren. Having lived in 11 decades, she was stamina and iron will personified, never wavering from her values of family, education and community. Mary always said "her best investment were her children". Mary is survived by loving children Barbara J. (Michael) Coleman, Thomas K. (Susan) Atkinson, Judith (Christopher) Miller, Janice (Charles) Atkinson-Smith, James A. (Melissa) Atkinson, CPA and Peter J. (Jennifer) Atkinson; grandchildren Erin (Gary) Cummins, Paul (Jennifer) Coleman, Kevin (Eden) Atkinson, Megan (Eric) Bertucci, Sean, Allison, and the late Ryan McMahon, Kendall and Trevor Smith, Andrew Atkinson, Jack (Jaclyn) Atkinson, William (Shannon Nichols) Atkinson, Peter, Claire and Sam Atkinson; great-grandchildren Sadie and Lyla Cummins, Emma Coleman, Kendall Ro and Reese Bertucci. Mary is predeceased by her devoted husband Kendall J. "Denny" Atkinson. She is the sister of the late James (late June) Ryan, Kathleen (William) Vantine and Margaret (late John) Dougherty; sister-in-law of the late Trevor (late Julia) and the late Douglas (late Nancy) Atkinson and is also survived by many loving nieces and nephews. No prior visitation. Family and friends are invited to attend a Mass of Christian Burial on Saturday, March 1st at 11 AM in the Nativity of Our Lord Church, 26 Thorn Avenue, Orchard Park, NY. Flowers gratefully declined. If so desired, donations in Mary's memory may be made to Hospice Foundation, PO Box 590, Buffalo, NY 14240-0590 or the Orchard Park Public Library, 4570 S. Buffalo Street, Orchard Park, NY 14127.