Obituary
Florence “Mary” Reardon, 98, passed away peacefully on Oct. 21, 2022. She was born at home on May 28, 1924, to the late Joseph and Rose Pender Schwarz. Mary took in “babies” before she went to work outside of home. She was a bookkeeper for Harold Grinspoon Real Estate and then for the Jewish Nursing Home. Mary loved to cook and bake. We all loved her chocolate squares and peanut butter squares! Mary loved to read before macular degeneration robbed her of that. She had books all over the house and was involved in numerous book clubs. She loved animals and during the depression she would find a dog on the street and bring it home and clean and feed it. Her mom was surprised when she came home from work to find all these new dogs in the house. If you lived in West Side, you saw her walking the dogs all over town. Mary was a great storyteller with an unbelievable memory and always got animated. She was a powerhouse of energy, washing her own windows and curtains into her 80’s and continued driving till she was 95. Mary was predeceased by her husband, Robert “Bob” Reardon, her eldest daughter, Eileen Libardi, her brother William Schwarz and wife Marion, her sister, Irene Rattell and husband Earl her good friends, David and Tiny Hastings and many other too numerous to mention. Mary leaves her daughters, Katherine Asselin and her husband Francis of Feeding Hills and Maureen Racella and her husband Rick of Plymouth, 12 grandchildren, numerous great grandchildren and great great grandchildren. Her daughter Katherine would like to send out a special thank you to all who helped make Mary’s last few years memorable. First to Fran, Dan, Brenda and Leslie who were always there when she needed them and would always call and visit. To Joanne for helping when she could. Her nephew Bill and Peggy Schwarz, who never forgot her. To Paul, her maintenance man who was always there to help her with anything that needed fixing around the house and keeping her yard immaculate. To Alfred, Sandra and Damon who again never forgot her, even after she moved to Ruth’s House. She enjoyed your visits and all the goodies. To Richard for calling everyday and going to the house at night to make sure her doors were locked. To Alice who helped her out immensely while she was at Maple St, fixing her cable and sharing her porch with good conversations. And lastly to her caregivers in her final days, you were all fabulous and treated my mom like she was your own. You brought smiles to her face (even though she would want to be left alone and would raise her voice to them). You made her last days as pleasant as could be. Thank you to my Kenny ( I will never forget you). Kerry (another great one), Adith, Nicole, Michelle, Poochey and Destiny. If I left anyone out please forgive me, you were all wonderful. A liturgy of Christian Burial will be Tuesday Oct 25 at 11:30am from St. Thomas Church with burial to follow in St. Thomas Cemetery. Calling hours will be from 9:30-11AM at the Toomey-O’Brien Funeral Home, 1043 Westfield St., West Springfield. In lieu of flowers, please consider a memorial donation in Mary’s name to the Dakin Humane Society, 171 Union St Springfield, MA 01105. Mary loved Maple St. and lived there for 73 years! Now she is back home.
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