Mary L. Carlon

Mary L. Carlon, age 92, passed away peacefully on Monday, June 26, 2023.  Born on July 15, 1930, in Orange, NJ.  She was the oldest daughter to the late Charles and Catherine Schauder. 

Mary Lou, as she was affectionately known, grew up in Bloomfield, NJ and attended Immaculate Conception High School in Montclair, where she was active on the Girls Varsity Basketball team.  

After high school, Mary Lou went on to attend Berkeley Secretarial School where she obtained a degree as an Executive Assistant.  Mary Lou worked briefly for Prudential Insurance and then became the secretary and bookkeeper for her husband’s business for over 30 years.   She would use her shorthand skills to keep the children’s Christmas lists a secret.  

As all great New Jersey love stories began, Mary Lou and Jim met one night at a Jersey Shore bar called Campbells Evans in Belmar.  Jim offered to buy Mary Lou a drink and they hit it off, starting a lifetime of memories. 

Mary Lou and Jim married on November 26th, 1955, at St. Thomas Church in Bloomfield, NJ and honeymooned in Florida.  Dinner time was always important to Marylou and Jim, demanding the family eat together.  There was always room at the table for many guests.  Mary Lou and Jim spent 58 years devoted to each other, their family and faith until Jim’s passing in 2013.  

One of Mary Lou’s favorite Christmas traditions, carried on from her mother, was buying a special Christmas ornament for her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.  Each ornament would be unique to each child and depict a special event that happened in their lives during that year.  Everyone would rush to the Christmas tree to find their name on the special ornament.  Those annual ornaments adorn each one of their own Christmas trees as a tribute to their parent and grandmother.  

Mary Lou was one of the founding members of Our Lady of Consolation Church.  Her Catholic Faith was very important to her.  She volunteered in the cafeteria while her children were attending school and she worked hot dog Day and McDonalds day.   Mary Lou was involved with the Rosary Society, the Prayer Shawl Ministry and Seniors Unlimited.  She also volunteered in the Parish office, answering the phone, doing mailings and preparing the weekly bulletins for mass.  Fr. Wolsin and Fr. Michael knew that Mary Lou and Jim were always willing to help in any aspect that was needed.  

Mary Lou also volunteered at Chilton Hospital for over 25 years, working the front desk and other jobs that volunteers were assigned. 

Mary Lou was a diehard Giants fan, Notre Dame fan, and Mets fan and would spend late nights on the phone talking to her grandchildren and texting them about the game.

Mary Lou is survived by her 8 children: Kathleen Bionde and her husband Jim (Pompton Plains), Ann Feeney and her husband Kevin (Pequannock), Patti Ringen and her husband Jeff (Pompton Plains), Jim Carlon and his wife Dawn (Allentown, PA), Elizabeth Stockinger (Pompton Plains), Michael Carlon and his wife Joanne (Pompton Plains), Mary Thomas and her husband Ben (Pequannock), and John Carlon and his wife Jenene (Pequannock); along with her 26 grandchildren and 16 great grandchildren – the first Carlon great grandchild will be coming in September of 2023!  Mary Lou is also survived by her sister-in-law Ruth Ellen Schauder and many nieces and nephews. 

Mary Lou is predeceased by her parents: Catherine and Charles Schauder; her husband James Carlon, her siblings Charles (Bud) Schauder and his wife Eileen, Donald Schauder, Gertrude Brennan and her husband Bill, 6 nieces and nephews and one great grandchild Amelia. 

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions to Atlantic Health Visiting Nurse Hospice and Ecuador Quilt are greatly appreciated.