Mary P. Mazzacco of Tinton Falls passed away peacefully at home April 22, 2023, one month and one day after her 102nd birthday.
Mary was born and raised in Asbury Park and was the sixth child of Frances and Saverio Peluso. She attended Bangs Avenue Grammar School and graduated from Asbury Park High School in 1938 with honors and was awarded the coveted Edwin Post Latin Cup.
True to her family’s description that she had “blind courage,” Mary chose to attend Duke University – sight unseen – and graduated in 1942. At Duke, she prepared for a career in education that spanned three decades and took her from Wanamassa Elementary School to Middle Schools in both Long Branch and Asbury Park as well as Lower Moreland High School in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where her yearbook students won numerous Columbia Journalism awards, and she was chosen Teacher of the Year.
Mary had boundless energy, an infectious enthusiasm, a passion for learning, and a spirit of adventure. She was athletic and swam into her 90s and played tennis into her 70s. She traveled the U.S. and Europe and, at age 85, fulfilled a deep-seated desire and traveled alone to make a pilgrimage to the Blessed Mother in Medjugorje in Bosnia and Herzegovina. She loved nature and gardening, fine music and art, enjoyed cooking her Italian specialties, especially at the holidays and had a wonderful sense of style. She appreciated and celebrated all that life offered.
Blessed with a great sense of purpose, Mary was best known and loved for her dedication to family and friends. She was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother who supported her family in all of their undertakings. She shared in their activities and celebrated their achievements. She instilled in them a love of family and tradition. She was a patient listener who always offered thoughtful advice, and her loyalty and concern for friends were genuine and constant.
Mary’s unshakable belief in God is her greatest legacy. She lived her faith each and every day in quiet service to others and in prayer. She was an active parishioner at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Red Bank for over 50 years and, during that time, participated in many parish activities. She was deeply involved in the St. Ann’s Society, served as a Eucharistic Minister and lector, and taught and assisted in the CCD program.
Mary was predeceased by her husband James J. Mazzacco, as well as by her first husband Clyde E. Rankin Jr. She is survived by her daughter Christine Specht and her husband William of Shrewsbury; her son Clyde (Skip) E. Rankin III and his wife Camille of New York City and Shrewsbury; her grandsons Stephen Specht and his wife Agata of Shrewsbury and Alexander Specht and his wife Yi of Westfield; by two great-grandsons, Michael Specht and William Specht; and by many nieces and nephews.
The family is grateful for the treatment given to Mary by Dr. Stephen Windsor and his staff, and the nurses and staff at the Stillwell-Hansen Infusion Center at Riverview Medical Center, whose care and concern for Mary over the past three years was exceptional, and for the loving care by her caregivers, Jean, Felicia, Verna and Krystal, over the past several months.
In memory of Mary, friends and family may wish to make donations to the Stillwell-Hansen Infusion Center, c/o Riverview Medical Center Foundation Cancer Services, 1 Riverview Plaza, Red Bank, NJ 07701.
Visitation was April 26 at Buckley Funeral Home, Asbury Park. A Mass of Christian Burial was held at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church. Interment was private.
The article originally appeared in the May 4 – 10, 2023 print edition of The Two River Times.
