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Services
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Sunday, June 5, 2016 from 2-6 PM.
Funeral Services will be held on Monday, June 6, 2016 at 9:30 AM from the funeral home, then to St. Paul’s RC Church, 286 Haledon Ave., Prospect Park, where at 10:30 AM a Funeral Mass will be offered.
Maria C. Mercandino of Wayne, passed away peacefully, on Monday evening, May 30, 2016. She had recently celebrated her 100th birthday.
Born Maria C. Scala in 1915 in Paterson, she was the oldest of four including her three younger brothers. Maria was raised in Paterson, later moving to Clifton, then to Wayne where she lived for over twenty-five years – much of those years at Wayne’s Sisco Village, and at the Atrium in Wayne since 2014.
Maria was always a hard worker. Her father passed away when he was only thirty-six. Consequently, to help her mom put food on the table and pay the bills, Maria started working as a seamstress in one of the many Paterson mills when she was only fourteen years old. She also spent a lot of time watching after her three younger brothers.
Maria met and fell in love with Alexander “Al” Mercandino. They married on Sunday, June 21, 1936 at St. Agnes Church in Paterson. Maria was just twenty years old at the time. She and Al started their married life together in an apartment in Paterson, soon after moving into their own home on Warren street in Clifton. There she raised her and Al’s two daughters – Ann Maria and Diane. She was a great mom who always did her best to help Al provide a good life for all the family. For many years during the 1950, when Al would get home from a day’s work, Maria would head off to the North Jersey Country Club where she served as Head Waitress.
While waitressing, an executive from a company in Clifton called Shulton – maker of Old Spice and creator and producer of many other personal care products including shampoos and hair dyes, noticed what a good worker Maria was. He offered Maria a job at Shulton as a lab technician. She only had an eighth grade education but this executive could see that she was a smart woman and Maria succeeded by learning on the job. She really enjoyed going to work as well as the benefits of free shampoo and hair dye. As a result, she came home with a different hair color on occasions. The company was later bought out by American Cyanamid, after Maria’s retirement in 1965.
Despite all the responsibilities of managing a home and working full-time, Maria always found time for other pursuits that she enjoyed. She was a very good cook and she loved entertaining for the holidays. It was important to her that her family be together and her house was the place for all to gather for a holiday spread. During her days working as a young lady in the Paterson mill, she learned a lot about sewing. That was a great experience for her and it sparked a great love for her that she utilized throughout the rest of her life. She could make anything with a needle and some thread and she always sewed, knitted or crocheted a little bit of love into everything she made. When her daughters were young, she made almost all of their clothes. When she was blessed with grandchildren and great-grandchildren she made them beautiful soft blankets to keep them warm and protected. Even until she was well into her eighties, if you needed something hemmed or repaired the saying always was “Give it to Grandma!” Maria was very creative with her sewing skills. Her children will always remember with great affection what she would do for them for Easter. Most kids would get a basket but not Maria’s children and grandchildren! Instead, she fashioned a round table that she had into a giant Easter basket. She sewed a beautiful border around the table and gave it a big arching handle. The “basket” was then filled with all the Easter favorites including jelly beans and marshmallow chicks.
Throughout her life but especially following retirement, Maria became the queen of community activity. While living in Wayne she volunteered for numerous township-based associations and organizations. She served as President for the Golden Age Circle (1984-1988), Our Lady of the Valley RC Church Seniors, The Golden Key of Wayne and Willowbrook Ministries (1983).
She received awards for her volunteer service in Passaic County with the American Red Cross and even received the President’s Volunteer Service Award from President George H. W. Bush for her service and civic participation with the President’s Council. She was also presented an award in 2004 for exemplary volunteer service and commitment to the RSVP of Passaic County Program. This award was presented at the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program of Passaic County Eighth Annual Volunteer Recognition Program, held at the Brownstone House in Paterson, and Maria received this award for over 250 hours of volunteer service.
It’s no wonder that Maria was recognized for so much volunteer service. She had a strong work ethic, she felt a moral duty to serve others, and she was blessed with endless energy. She was even driving her car to church and club activities until begrudgingly giving up her car when she turned 95! While living at Sisco Village, she loved going with her friends every week to the Passaic County Nutrition Club. There she received a delicious lunch followed by a round of bingo or a card game with friends and acquaintances. While living at the Atrium the last couple of years, she was always looking to get involved in the activities they offered and was even a little upset if nothing was scheduled.
Maria had a sincere faith in God and, in many ways, it defined who she was as a person. She prayed every day and was recently leading the other residents in praying the rosary at the Atrium. For many years she attended Our Lady of the Valley Church in Wayne and at times before living at the Atrium enjoyed mass at St. Paul’s Church in Prospect Park with Father Ed.
Maria’s family gathered this past September to celebrate a great milestone for anyone – her 100th birthday! While she was honored with a letter from the mayor of Wayne and even a letter from President and Mrs. Obama, it was the fact that her family was gathered together and the love they expressed that was most pleasing to Maria. At the gathering, her grandson brought a memory jar. Everyone was given an opportunity to write some great memories on a paper and slip the paper in the memory jar. This was presented to Maria so she could reminisce and celebrate the impact she had on each loved one’s life. The main theme that was sewn into each person’s memories was of a mother, mother-in-law, grandmother and great-grandmother who was generous despite great riches, and who always found time despite it being in short supply. Maria’s grandchildren recall Nana’s cookies, butter-covered tea biscuits and sweetened, milk-colored warm tea, watching Nana swim laps in the pool in the morning, seeing her being “Ms. President” at her OLV Seniors meetings, sponsoring them for their confirmations, hanging up their hand-drawn pictures on her refrigerator, no matter how ugly, and letting them stay up on New Year’s Eve to play cards and watch the apple drop. Her daughters recall how Mom always seemed to know when they didn’t have enough money for diapers or even groceries or when they were up at night with a sleepless crying baby, and how she managed to make this white silk graduation dress that was gorgeous and how money was tight but Mom always did without, so her kids could have the best. Her son-in-laws remember the time she almost knocked down one of their houses with her car and the day there was a flood in their house in Little Falls. That day the basement was full of water and the house looked like an island in the sea. When the fire men came with a boat to take them out, Maria told the firemen to go down the street and help the neighbors first.
Maria was generous to her children and grandchildren and even a person like the attendant who filled her tank at the gas station. She always said, “If you give of yourself to others, God will always bless you in your life and see to it that all your needs are met.”
Maria was a gracious, respectful woman whose last words as the nurses and aids at the Atrium were putting her to bed were “Thank You. Thank you Maria for being such a wonder wife, mom, grandma, great-grandma, sister, and friend, and for teaching and being such a wonderful example of what it means to love others!
Surviving are her two dear daughters: Ann Maria and husband Robert Stanczak of Stem, NC, and Diane and husband Henry Stanczak of North Haledon; four cherished grandchildren: Michael and wife Leanne Stanczak, Christine and husband Darrin Schmid, Thomas and wife Melissa Stanczak, and Debra Ann Stanczak; and five adored great-grandchildren: Danielle, Christopher, Megan, Jonathan, and Jennifer. Maria was predeceased by her beloved husband Alex “Al” in 1993, and her four brothers: Salvatore, Phillip, Leo, and Thomas.
In lieu of flowers, those planning an expression of sympathy in Maria’s name are asked to consider St. Paul’s RC Church, 286 Haledon Ave., Prospect Park, NJ 07508.
If you would like to send a private condolence directly to the family use this condolence section.
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Sunday, June 5, 2016 from 2-6 PM.
Funeral Services will be held on Monday, June 6, 2016 at 9:30 AM from the funeral home, then to St. Paul’s RC Church, 286 Haledon Ave., Prospect Park, where at 10:30 AM a Funeral Mass will be offered.
Services
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Sunday, June 5, 2016 from 2-6 PM.
Funeral Services will be held on Monday, June 6, 2016 at 9:30 AM from the funeral home, then to St. Paul’s RC Church, 286 Haledon Ave., Prospect Park, where at 10:30 AM a Funeral Mass will be offered.
Maria C. Mercandino of Wayne, passed away peacefully, on Monday evening, May 30, 2016. She had recently celebrated her 100th birthday.
Born Maria C. Scala in 1915 in Paterson, she was the oldest of four including her three younger brothers. Maria was raised in Paterson, later moving to Clifton, then to Wayne where she lived for over twenty-five years – much of those years at Wayne’s Sisco Village, and at the Atrium in Wayne since 2014.
Maria was always a hard worker. Her father passed away when he was only thirty-six. Consequently, to help her mom put food on the table and pay the bills, Maria started working as a seamstress in one of the many Paterson mills when she was only fourteen years old. She also spent a lot of time watching after her three younger brothers.
Maria met and fell in love with Alexander “Al” Mercandino. They married on Sunday, June 21, 1936 at St. Agnes Church in Paterson. Maria was just twenty years old at the time. She and Al started their married life together in an apartment in Paterson, soon after moving into their own home on Warren street in Clifton. There she raised her and Al’s two daughters – Ann Maria and Diane. She was a great mom who always did her best to help Al provide a good life for all the family. For many years during the 1950, when Al would get home from a day’s work, Maria would head off to the North Jersey Country Club where she served as Head Waitress.
While waitressing, an executive from a company in Clifton called Shulton – maker of Old Spice and creator and producer of many other personal care products including shampoos and hair dyes, noticed what a good worker Maria was. He offered Maria a job at Shulton as a lab technician. She only had an eighth grade education but this executive could see that she was a smart woman and Maria succeeded by learning on the job. She really enjoyed going to work as well as the benefits of free shampoo and hair dye. As a result, she came home with a different hair color on occasions. The company was later bought out by American Cyanamid, after Maria’s retirement in 1965.
Despite all the responsibilities of managing a home and working full-time, Maria always found time for other pursuits that she enjoyed. She was a very good cook and she loved entertaining for the holidays. It was important to her that her family be together and her house was the place for all to gather for a holiday spread. During her days working as a young lady in the Paterson mill, she learned a lot about sewing. That was a great experience for her and it sparked a great love for her that she utilized throughout the rest of her life. She could make anything with a needle and some thread and she always sewed, knitted or crocheted a little bit of love into everything she made. When her daughters were young, she made almost all of their clothes. When she was blessed with grandchildren and great-grandchildren she made them beautiful soft blankets to keep them warm and protected. Even until she was well into her eighties, if you needed something hemmed or repaired the saying always was “Give it to Grandma!” Maria was very creative with her sewing skills. Her children will always remember with great affection what she would do for them for Easter. Most kids would get a basket but not Maria’s children and grandchildren! Instead, she fashioned a round table that she had into a giant Easter basket. She sewed a beautiful border around the table and gave it a big arching handle. The “basket” was then filled with all the Easter favorites including jelly beans and marshmallow chicks.
Throughout her life but especially following retirement, Maria became the queen of community activity. While living in Wayne she volunteered for numerous township-based associations and organizations. She served as President for the Golden Age Circle (1984-1988), Our Lady of the Valley RC Church Seniors, The Golden Key of Wayne and Willowbrook Ministries (1983).
She received awards for her volunteer service in Passaic County with the American Red Cross and even received the President’s Volunteer Service Award from President George H. W. Bush for her service and civic participation with the President’s Council. She was also presented an award in 2004 for exemplary volunteer service and commitment to the RSVP of Passaic County Program. This award was presented at the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program of Passaic County Eighth Annual Volunteer Recognition Program, held at the Brownstone House in Paterson, and Maria received this award for over 250 hours of volunteer service.
It’s no wonder that Maria was recognized for so much volunteer service. She had a strong work ethic, she felt a moral duty to serve others, and she was blessed with endless energy. She was even driving her car to church and club activities until begrudgingly giving up her car when she turned 95! While living at Sisco Village, she loved going with her friends every week to the Passaic County Nutrition Club. There she received a delicious lunch followed by a round of bingo or a card game with friends and acquaintances. While living at the Atrium the last couple of years, she was always looking to get involved in the activities they offered and was even a little upset if nothing was scheduled.
Maria had a sincere faith in God and, in many ways, it defined who she was as a person. She prayed every day and was recently leading the other residents in praying the rosary at the Atrium. For many years she attended Our Lady of the Valley Church in Wayne and at times before living at the Atrium enjoyed mass at St. Paul’s Church in Prospect Park with Father Ed.
Maria’s family gathered this past September to celebrate a great milestone for anyone – her 100th birthday! While she was honored with a letter from the mayor of Wayne and even a letter from President and Mrs. Obama, it was the fact that her family was gathered together and the love they expressed that was most pleasing to Maria. At the gathering, her grandson brought a memory jar. Everyone was given an opportunity to write some great memories on a paper and slip the paper in the memory jar. This was presented to Maria so she could reminisce and celebrate the impact she had on each loved one’s life. The main theme that was sewn into each person’s memories was of a mother, mother-in-law, grandmother and great-grandmother who was generous despite great riches, and who always found time despite it being in short supply. Maria’s grandchildren recall Nana’s cookies, butter-covered tea biscuits and sweetened, milk-colored warm tea, watching Nana swim laps in the pool in the morning, seeing her being “Ms. President” at her OLV Seniors meetings, sponsoring them for their confirmations, hanging up their hand-drawn pictures on her refrigerator, no matter how ugly, and letting them stay up on New Year’s Eve to play cards and watch the apple drop. Her daughters recall how Mom always seemed to know when they didn’t have enough money for diapers or even groceries or when they were up at night with a sleepless crying baby, and how she managed to make this white silk graduation dress that was gorgeous and how money was tight but Mom always did without, so her kids could have the best. Her son-in-laws remember the time she almost knocked down one of their houses with her car and the day there was a flood in their house in Little Falls. That day the basement was full of water and the house looked like an island in the sea. When the fire men came with a boat to take them out, Maria told the firemen to go down the street and help the neighbors first.
Maria was generous to her children and grandchildren and even a person like the attendant who filled her tank at the gas station. She always said, “If you give of yourself to others, God will always bless you in your life and see to it that all your needs are met.”
Maria was a gracious, respectful woman whose last words as the nurses and aids at the Atrium were putting her to bed were “Thank You. Thank you Maria for being such a wonder wife, mom, grandma, great-grandma, sister, and friend, and for teaching and being such a wonderful example of what it means to love others!
Surviving are her two dear daughters: Ann Maria and husband Robert Stanczak of Stem, NC, and Diane and husband Henry Stanczak of North Haledon; four cherished grandchildren: Michael and wife Leanne Stanczak, Christine and husband Darrin Schmid, Thomas and wife Melissa Stanczak, and Debra Ann Stanczak; and five adored great-grandchildren: Danielle, Christopher, Megan, Jonathan, and Jennifer. Maria was predeceased by her beloved husband Alex “Al” in 1993, and her four brothers: Salvatore, Phillip, Leo, and Thomas.
In lieu of flowers, those planning an expression of sympathy in Maria’s name are asked to consider St. Paul’s RC Church, 286 Haledon Ave., Prospect Park, NJ 07508.
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