McClare, Mary H. (Hickey)

Mary H. McClare 11/21/34 – 10/25/16

Mary Kathryn (Hickey) McClare was born in Corning, NY on Nov 21, 1934.  Her mother, Ann Galvin Hickey, immigrated from Ireland at the age of 17years old.  Finding work in Corning, she and her sister settled there.  Ann later married Raymond Hickey of Corning and they had three daughters: Mary, Josephine and Francis. Mary graduated from Northside High School in 1952,  and had ambition to attend RIT for Retailing and Business Management.  She studied briefly until family need required her to table such goals.  Her father’s sudden death changed the course for her academia. She eventually sought employ in Washington DC.  For a number of years, she worked for the National Fisheries Association in a secretarial position.  It was in DC that she would meet her future husband, Andrew Virgil McClare, an active duty soldier in the Army, stationed at Fort Myer.   Mary and Andrew wed in July,1963. They moved to Bronxville, NY where their first two children, Michael and Kathryn, were born.  Soon after Kathryn was born, Andy accepted a position in Rochester and the family moved there.  Eventually residing for the rest of their years in Fairport, Mary and Andy had two more sons, William and Brian.

As her children grew, she herself grew more involved in their scholastic and athletic pursuits, noting that not once was Mary ever in their limelight.  She admired her 4 children’s individuality and extracurricular activities.  There was likely not a time she missed one of their events or games, unless perhaps due to extensive travel or severe weather.

Mary’s interests in helping others led her to a unique career position as the Ghost Writer for “Farm Wife News” magazine.  Her writings focused on consumer advocacy and quality assurance of which she often did her own research on products and services, simply doing what she could to make someone’s life a little better.  She was a voracious reader, noting two of her favorite authors being Tom Clancy and John Grisham.  In the late 1970s, Mary teamed up with her sister Josephine (Administrator of Town Gate East Adult Home in Penfield NY) and was the Administrative Assistant for over 10 years.

Even with her very active family, Mary found moments in which to embrace things that brought her happiness. She enjoyed creative writing, photography with a distinct orientation toward flowers, trees and woodland creatures. Mary was an accomplished pianist and could bring many eras to life while playing ballads, pop songs and traditional holiday faves. She once took classes to learn to speak Gaelic and tried her hand at watercolor painting. But none was so great as the devotion she had for her family.

In 1998, when Mary’s husband Andy battled against lung cancer, she rose above her own obstacle of agoraphobia in order to be his advocate and to spend precious time with him. To honor her husband who lost his fight against cancer in1999, she joined the Rochester Health Commission, becoming distinctly involved in a pain management education campaign.  Mary researched traditional, alternative and collaborative care for pain and then created a brochure enlightening the reader of the individual responses to pain and treatment options.  A brochure she created was circulated to hundreds of doctors in the Rochester area and beyond.

Social groups such as the Garden Club, Euchre Club and sports Booster Clubs provided decades of fun and volunteer opportunities. She was a top notch bowler, enjoying leisure activity with friends Olga, Myrna, Peggy, and several others.

Mary succumbed to pancreatic cancer on October 25th while suffering nearly 4 years of vascular dementia.  Mary was the epitome of kindness.  She is deeply and thoroughly missed by her family and friends. Mary leaves her children, Michael (Leslie), Kathryn, William (Stacy), and Brian (Sue), her grandchildren Caitlin, Julia, Allison, Nicholas, Timothy, Andrew, Rileigh and step-grandchildren Maddie and Jake, her sister Josephine and many nieces, nephews and friends.

Calling hours, Tuesday, November 1st 4-7 PM at Richard H. Keenan Funeral Home, 7501 Pittsford Palmyra Road (Egypt location). Funeral Mass, Wednesday, November 2nd 10 AM at St. John of Rochester Church (Fairport). A reception at church to follow the mass.