Pizzo, Mary (Borregine)

Greece: June 14, 2021. Mary was a devoted wife, loving mother & grandmother. She is predeceased by her husband, John Pizzo; siblings, Kay, Paul, Pat & Rose. Survived by her children, JoAnn (Paul) Hosier, Terry (Blane) Baumbarger, Deborah (Patrick) Stein; grandchildren, Julie (John Schubmehl) Chapman, Angela (Marshall) Oakes, Tiffany (Mark) Kleehamer & Taryn Stein; great-grandchildren, Jonathan, Jessica, Ethan, Riley & Connor; several cousins, nieces & nephews.

Mary's Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 9:30 AM on Tuesday, June 22nd at St. Charles Borromeo Church, 3003 Dewey Ave. Interment in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to a charity of your choice. Special thanks to Mary's home care aids, Lisa Vadney and her workers, Carol Vann and Jackie Terry.

Everyone that knew Mary Pizzo knew that she was a kind and loving woman and a great cook. Her family knew her as a good daughter, sister, and a very loving and devoted wife, wonderful mother and grandmother, great-grandmother, aunt, and cousin. She was also a good friend to her sorority sisters whom she met up with until two years ago, and many other friends from Florida and New York. She was also thinking of everyone in the extended family and many others and sent them cards every year. She was always giving to everyone. She had many other talents, interests and abilities which will be mentioned below.

Much of what made Mary the woman she was can be traced back to early life experiences, including her childhood in Rochester as the daughter of extremely poor Italian immigrants who did not speak English. She was born in Rochester on June 20, 1922 as the first daughter of Joseph and Theresa (Borrelli) Borrreggine. Since her parents did not speak English, she served as an interpreter for them as a young child and was also a big help to her younger four siblings. During the depression years she would also go pick up food for the family from the government agencies who provided it. Those years of poverty during the depression molded her life of frugality and savings. She only bought things on sale until she died! She was known for loving a good deal. Her and her husband John's frugality also allowed her to have resources to help others, be generous with her family and have the best home health care she could possibly have in the last couple of years.

Her childhood situation also motivated her to make the best of her life, driven by the desire to improve herself and help others. For instance, she was a great student in high school and graduated from Jefferson High in Rochester as a member of the National Honor Society in 1940. She also went on to work as bookkeeper at Clearys and then at Oken Paper Company after graduation, and that was not without challenges either. At her first job interview the boss asked the other employees if they minded if he hired an Italian, who at that time were the subject of prejudice since they were part of a relatively new wave of immigrants in Rochester. Thankfully, the other workers said it was OK, and needless to say they all loved her at all her jobs.

She also did a wonderful job when she took on many more responsibilities after marrying her life-long love John Pizzo, a man she was married to for almost 70 years. She met him in cooking class in high school and they were smitten with each other. They dated and were committed to each other even though the first date was a mini disaster due to John's car problems. That was in 1939 and since they were so in love, they stayed committed and faithful to each other until John completed his 6-year Navy tour in 1945. Wow, what love that was and you should see the love letters sent over those 6 years! They were finally able to marry on August 4, 1945 and they stayed happily married until John passed away on May 1, 2015 at the age of 95.

So, now here is a little information about her new responsibilities. John, and his mother Josephine for that matter, loved to eat. And, on Sunday that was something like a two hour 8-course meal, which I am sure you Italians understand. Fortunately, Mary (born as Maria) was or became one of the best cooks in the world. Not only did John benefit, but the rest of us children, grand-children and other relatives and friends enjoyed it. When we went to visit them in Florida during their retirement, she would ask us each morning what we wanted for dinner. She will always be known for her cooking and love of serving others.

That was not her only job though. Besides her bookkeeping before she had children, she also had a lot of responsibility at home when she had her three children, especially since John worked a second job part of the year to provide well for the family (running apartments, doing taxes). It put a little strain on their marriage, but Mary stepped up and took care of the children and continually lived frugally so that they could buy their first and final new house in 1963. That also allowed them to save money for the future. Because of her skill in that regard, John and Mary were able to travel to Italy for the trip of their lifetime for the first time back to Italy in 1984. It also allowed John to retire in 1985 and spend over 25 years of retirement in Florida. Their savings and John's stellar investments also allowed Mary to have 24/7 personal health care aides at home for the last year and a half of her life. She loved her aides and so did we, her children. They are Lisa Vadney and her workers, Carol Vann, and Jackie Terry. They were the BEST and we felt so happy they cared for her with love until the end.

Of course, we children were also there for her, visiting just about every day and calling every day. Blane and Terry were able to take her to Florida with them in the winter for five years before her health declined considerably. The family started providing food a few years ago when we asked her to cook less or not at all. She was so appreciative of everything and made it easy for her family and aides. Everyone loved her and said she was the best patient.

Mary had many other interests. She read the newspaper and kept up to date on things in the world. If she did not understand something, she would ask John and she would get an in-depth explanation that sometimes she would regret when it went on too long. If you knew John, you would understand. She had an interest in learning new things her whole life, just like John. She had other interests and hobbies like crocheting, watching the Yankees and meeting with her sorority sisters and husbands. She also loved fashion and dressed herself and her girls in style. One of her nieces said some online pictures are an example of her beauty and style and the rest of us would agree. She loved playing cards and was quite the bluffer. She would pretend she was getting bad cards and then quietly lay down her cards before everyone else, like when playing one of her favorite card games, "May I". She would always win or be close to winning, except when one of us children had a good night. She always sent birthday cards to her extended family until her last couple of years. She always knew what was going on with them. Of course, she did not reach out as much after John died since her life was not the same without the love of her life. If she did not reach out to you as much in the last few years, don't take it personally since she was not the same.

Mary loved her family and extended family and enjoyed many good times, parties, and vacations with them. All of her and John's brothers and sisters and their spouses passed away before she did. However, many of her nieces and nephews continued to visit her and do things for her after John passed away. Although we will not mention all of you by name out of fear of missing someone that we did not know who reached out to mom, you know who you are, and we love you for it! Mom had many other close friends who have also passed away. One of her best friends was Shirley Cass, who was a big part of her life and helped her out as a young woman. We appreciate all that Bill Goy of Bereza Iron Works did for mom after John passed away. Thanks! We could thank many other people as well for what they have done for our mother. We appreciate it.

Her grandchildren have many nice things to say about her, like she was the best (Julie), she was a good cook, amazing grandma and listener and patient (Angela), she said many funny things (all of them). They will all miss her dearly like the rest of her daughters and sons-in-law.

Mary truly lived a long, productive, and giving life and will be missed by everyone who knew her, including her health care aids. She left a wonderful legacy for all of us. We could go with more about her, but we are sure that if you knew her you know that about her.