MARY T. MCCLATCHY, LED FAMILY OF GIVING
Mary T. McClatchy, whose spirit of giving and volunteerism influenced lives and career choices through the next two generations of her family, died Friday. She was 89 and lived in Parkesburg, Chester County.
She was the wife for 52 years of prominent developer Frank McClatchy, a member of the family that developed the 69th Street business district in Upper Darby. He died in 1983. "Mother took in anything from stray people to stray animals and she volunteered all the time," said Anne Coacher, one of her daughters. "She was the one who taught us how to give and do for others. When Daddy was serving the Boy Scouts, she was serving the Girl Scouts as a Brownie leader." Frank McClatchy had been chairman of the finance committee of the Boy Scouts' Valley Forge Council and had received the prestigious Silver Beaver award for his services.
It is perhaps no accident that teaching and social-work professions are well represented in the extended McClatchy family. Of her six children, two are teachers and one is a social worker, and a large number of the grandchildren are in those fields. Formerly of Berwyn and Upper Darby, McClatchy served for 10 years as a Red Cross volunteer, working on blood drives and at the blood bank. She also taught reading to adults. Her church work was legendary. At various parishes she worked on altar guilds, helped prepare meals for homeless persons and belonged to numerous committees.
Mary McClatchy and a handful of other women were the driving force behind nearly every event and organization in St. Monica parish in Berwyn from the late 1950s until the early 1970s. Some members of the McClatchy family good-naturedly referred to the group as the "College of Cardinals." The former Mary Feeser grew up in Llanerch, Delaware County. She graduated from Immaculata College and soon married Frank McClatchy. All five of their daughters graduated from Immaculata. After her children were grown, she helped her husband with his business.
"She was an angel. She made friends easily and everyone liked her," said Kaye Ralston, another daughter. "It was amazing that she could communicate with people her age and with my son, who is 20, and his friends." At the time of her death she was living with her daughter Kaye. Her daughter said she has a dog and two cats, but very quickly the animals bonded with Mom and "basically, they werehers."
She was an avid reader and gardener and loved crossword puzzles. Her physical and mental health remained good. She was still doing New York Times puzzles, baby sitting and wading in the ocean just days before she died. She voluntarily stopped driving her car at age 85 because she knew her reflexes were declining and she didn't want to hurt anyone.
"She could be strict and opinionated at times," said Coacher. "Her German brown eyes looked at you and you'd better be doing the right things. But she never touched us." She had a sense of humor, said her daughters, and liked to laugh and to tell a good joke, even at her own expense. "She taught us to learn to laugh at ourselves," said Coacher. A resident of Parkesburg for the past seven years, she was a member of Our Lady of Consolation parish.
Mary T. McClatchy, whose spirit of giving and volunteerism influenced lives and career choices through the next two generations of her family, died Friday. She was 89 and lived in Parkesburg, Chester County.
She was the wife for 52 years of prominent developer Frank McClatchy, a member of the family that developed the 69th Street business district in Upper Darby. He died in 1983. "Mother took in anything from stray people to stray animals and she volunteered all the time," said Anne Coacher, one of her daughters. "She was the one who taught us how to give and do for others. When Daddy was serving the Boy Scouts, she was serving the Girl Scouts as a Brownie leader." Frank McClatchy had been chairman of the finance committee of the Boy Scouts' Valley Forge Council and had received the prestigious Silver Beaver award for his services.
It is perhaps no accident that teaching and social-work professions are well represented in the extended McClatchy family. Of her six children, two are teachers and one is a social worker, and a large number of the grandchildren are in those fields. Formerly of Berwyn and Upper Darby, McClatchy served for 10 years as a Red Cross volunteer, working on blood drives and at the blood bank. She also taught reading to adults. Her church work was legendary. At various parishes she worked on altar guilds, helped prepare meals for homeless persons and belonged to numerous committees.
Mary McClatchy and a handful of other women were the driving force behind nearly every event and organization in St. Monica parish in Berwyn from the late 1950s until the early 1970s. Some members of the McClatchy family good-naturedly referred to the group as the "College of Cardinals." The former Mary Feeser grew up in Llanerch, Delaware County. She graduated from Immaculata College and soon married Frank McClatchy. All five of their daughters graduated from Immaculata. After her children were grown, she helped her husband with his business.
"She was an angel. She made friends easily and everyone liked her," said Kaye Ralston, another daughter. "It was amazing that she could communicate with people her age and with my son, who is 20, and his friends." At the time of her death she was living with her daughter Kaye. Her daughter said she has a dog and two cats, but very quickly the animals bonded with Mom and "basically, they werehers."
She was an avid reader and gardener and loved crossword puzzles. Her physical and mental health remained good. She was still doing New York Times puzzles, baby sitting and wading in the ocean just days before she died. She voluntarily stopped driving her car at age 85 because she knew her reflexes were declining and she didn't want to hurt anyone.
"She could be strict and opinionated at times," said Coacher. "Her German brown eyes looked at you and you'd better be doing the right things. But she never touched us." She had a sense of humor, said her daughters, and liked to laugh and to tell a good joke, even at her own expense. "She taught us to learn to laugh at ourselves," said Coacher. A resident of Parkesburg for the past seven years, she was a member of Our Lady of Consolation parish.
MARY T. MCCLATCHY, LED FAMILY OF GIVING
Mary T. McClatchy, whose spirit of giving and volunteerism influenced lives and career choices through the next two generations of her family, died Friday. She was 89 and lived in Parkesburg, Chester County.
She was the wife for 52 years of prominent developer Frank McClatchy, a member of the family that developed the 69th Street business district in Upper Darby. He died in 1983. "Mother took in anything from stray people to stray animals and she volunteered all the time," said Anne Coacher, one of her daughters. "She was the one who taught us how to give and do for others. When Daddy was serving the Boy Scouts, she was serving the Girl Scouts as a Brownie leader." Frank McClatchy had been chairman of the finance committee of the Boy Scouts' Valley Forge Council and had received the prestigious Silver Beaver award for his services.
It is perhaps no accident that teaching and social-work professions are well represented in the extended McClatchy family. Of her six children, two are teachers and one is a social worker, and a large number of the grandchildren are in those fields. Formerly of Berwyn and Upper Darby, McClatchy served for 10 years as a Red Cross volunteer, working on blood drives and at the blood bank. She also taught reading to adults. Her church work was legendary. At various parishes she worked on altar guilds, helped prepare meals for homeless persons and belonged to numerous committees.
Mary McClatchy and a handful of other women were the driving force behind nearly every event and organization in St. Monica parish in Berwyn from the late 1950s until the early 1970s. Some members of the McClatchy family good-naturedly referred to the group as the "College of Cardinals." The former Mary Feeser grew up in Llanerch, Delaware County. She graduated from Immaculata College and soon married Frank McClatchy. All five of their daughters graduated from Immaculata. After her children were grown, she helped her husband with his business.
"She was an angel. She made friends easily and everyone liked her," said Kaye Ralston, another daughter. "It was amazing that she could communicate with people her age and with my son, who is 20, and his friends." At the time of her death she was living with her daughter Kaye. Her daughter said she has a dog and two cats, but very quickly the animals bonded with Mom and "basically, they werehers."
She was an avid reader and gardener and loved crossword puzzles. Her physical and mental health remained good. She was still doing New York Times puzzles, baby sitting and wading in the ocean just days before she died. She voluntarily stopped driving her car at age 85 because she knew her reflexes were declining and she didn't want to hurt anyone.
"She could be strict and opinionated at times," said Coacher. "Her German brown eyes looked at you and you'd better be doing the right things. But she never touched us." She had a sense of humor, said her daughters, and liked to laugh and to tell a good joke, even at her own expense. "She taught us to learn to laugh at ourselves," said Coacher. A resident of Parkesburg for the past seven years, she was a member of Our Lady of Consolation parish.
Mary T. McClatchy, whose spirit of giving and volunteerism influenced lives and career choices through the next two generations of her family, died Friday. She was 89 and lived in Parkesburg, Chester County.
She was the wife for 52 years of prominent developer Frank McClatchy, a member of the family that developed the 69th Street business district in Upper Darby. He died in 1983. "Mother took in anything from stray people to stray animals and she volunteered all the time," said Anne Coacher, one of her daughters. "She was the one who taught us how to give and do for others. When Daddy was serving the Boy Scouts, she was serving the Girl Scouts as a Brownie leader." Frank McClatchy had been chairman of the finance committee of the Boy Scouts' Valley Forge Council and had received the prestigious Silver Beaver award for his services.
It is perhaps no accident that teaching and social-work professions are well represented in the extended McClatchy family. Of her six children, two are teachers and one is a social worker, and a large number of the grandchildren are in those fields. Formerly of Berwyn and Upper Darby, McClatchy served for 10 years as a Red Cross volunteer, working on blood drives and at the blood bank. She also taught reading to adults. Her church work was legendary. At various parishes she worked on altar guilds, helped prepare meals for homeless persons and belonged to numerous committees.
Mary McClatchy and a handful of other women were the driving force behind nearly every event and organization in St. Monica parish in Berwyn from the late 1950s until the early 1970s. Some members of the McClatchy family good-naturedly referred to the group as the "College of Cardinals." The former Mary Feeser grew up in Llanerch, Delaware County. She graduated from Immaculata College and soon married Frank McClatchy. All five of their daughters graduated from Immaculata. After her children were grown, she helped her husband with his business.
"She was an angel. She made friends easily and everyone liked her," said Kaye Ralston, another daughter. "It was amazing that she could communicate with people her age and with my son, who is 20, and his friends." At the time of her death she was living with her daughter Kaye. Her daughter said she has a dog and two cats, but very quickly the animals bonded with Mom and "basically, they werehers."
She was an avid reader and gardener and loved crossword puzzles. Her physical and mental health remained good. She was still doing New York Times puzzles, baby sitting and wading in the ocean just days before she died. She voluntarily stopped driving her car at age 85 because she knew her reflexes were declining and she didn't want to hurt anyone.
"She could be strict and opinionated at times," said Coacher. "Her German brown eyes looked at you and you'd better be doing the right things. But she never touched us." She had a sense of humor, said her daughters, and liked to laugh and to tell a good joke, even at her own expense. "She taught us to learn to laugh at ourselves," said Coacher. A resident of Parkesburg for the past seven years, she was a member of Our Lady of Consolation parish.
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