Sunday, May 29, 2011

Mary Hibben Phelps Isachsen - A Tribute to a great Lady

The boyfriend and I are back from Washington, D.C., and I wanted to continue my tribute to my late Aunt who died on Friday. She was a great lady and a lot of fun. She played a huge role in my childhood and she will be forever etched in my memory and in my heart. Ironically, her late husband grew up at the same orphanage as the one where my father and his siblings spent their childhoods - his widowed mother was a house mother at one of the dormitories. It was through my father that my uncle and aunt met. In her younger years she was a stunning beauty and served as a Wave in World War II. I will miss her so deeply. Here's a portion of her obituary from the Troy New York newspaper that doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of her amazing life :
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Mary Hibben Phelps Isachsen, 88, of Sixteenth Street, died on Friday, May 27, 2011 at St. Mary's Hospital. Born in Panama on May 3, 1923, she was the daughter of the late Bruce and Azelie Phelps and beloved wife of Dr. Nils O. Isachsen who died May 6, 2009. They were married for 60 years.
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Mary was a graduate of Marymount Academy and Syracuse University. She was a veteran of the U.S. Navy, serving as a nurse during World War II. Mary was a Mico Biologist with St. Mary's Hospital in Troy for over 35 years. She loved sailing and gardening.
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Survivors include a son Bruce Isachsen (Jennifer) of Ballston Spa, a daughter Sara Ann Hines (Tom) of Lansingburgh, four grandsons Eric Hines (Kimberly) of North Carolina, Justin Hines of Lansingburgh, Ryan Isachsen (Cassi) and Evan Isachsen of Ballston Spa, a granddaughter Caitlin Isachsen of Ballson Spa, a sister Ann Lopushinsky and several nieces and nephews. Mary is predeceased by a sister Marion Hamar.
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I truly feel that an era is passing. Only my aunt in Syracuse remains from that generation. I know that life gores on, but it is so hard to see wonderful individuals pass on. Again, my condolences to my cousins. They are traveling down a road all too familiar to me and my siblings.

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