Mary “Marie” Dent

Mary M. Dent (nee Mirti), age 87 of Wayne, died peacefully on October 2, 2019.  Known as “Marie” by many, she has lived in Wayne since 1957.

Marie grew up in Newark and graduated from Barringer High School.  She started working for Prudential but she had other ideas of being a full-time wife and mother for her family.  Marie met her husband George on a blind date in the early 1950’s.  After a magical night of dinner and dancing, the die was cast.  From that night on they became a couple for life.  They were married on May 15, 1954 at St. Francis RC Church in Newark.  

In the sixty-five years since exchanging vows, they have enjoyed an wonderful life loving each other and raising their family.  She was an excellent cook and they enjoyed large Sunday dinner gatherings at their home each week.  She was the consummate “mom” and was loved by all the children in their neighborhood.  As George would say, “she kept the home fires burning well,” and was a terrific matriarch for their family.

Marie and George loved to travel and visited Hawaii several times, Rio de Janeiro and regularly vacationed at North Topsail Beach, NC.  She was a member of the Red Hat Society, read mystery novels, and enjoyed watching movies and baseball games with George.

Marie is survived by her beloved husband George of Wayne, three children; Theresa Davies and her husband Mark of Passaic, Patrick Dent and his wife Renee of Wayne, and Julie Koop and her husband Richard of Vernon, five grandchildren; Christopher Dent and his wife Erika, Erika Dent and her fiancé Sean Kelly, Rachel Davies, Zachary Koop and Joshua Koop, as well as, one sister; Gilda O’Brien and her husband Joe of Florida.  She was predeceased earlier this year by her brother Anthony Mirti of New Canaan, Connecticut, and is survived by his widow, Florence.