Mary Louise Berish

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Born on July 19,1906 in Barnesboro, Cambria County, Pennsylvania. She was the fifth oldest child to Michael Berish and Anna P. Mudry.

Description

Mary was of average build and stature. She had brown hair and brown eyes.

Early Years

• Childhood - During her youth, she contracted typhoid fever and almost died.
• Siblings
  • Anna Veronica Berish
  • Michael George Berish
  • John Paul Berish
  • Andrew Michael Berish
  • Elizabeth Helen Berish
  • Peter John Berish
  • Susan Elizabeth Berish
  • Theresa E. Berish
  • Joseph Berish
  • Paul Joseph Berish
  • Margaret Ann Berish - Beros
  • Emma Eleanor Berish

Education

Completed the seventh grade. She was pulled from school by her father to help around the house.

Religion

Mary was baptized into the Catholic faith. She was a member of St. Ambrose Roman Catholic Church in Avonmore, Indiana County, Pennsylvania..

Family Years

Married Joseph Stanley Briscoe on April 29, 1929 in the Sagamore, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. The couple had three children: one boy - Joseph Edward and two girls - Dorothy Mae and Frances Irene. Joseph died in mining accident. Mary later married Joseph Paul Stapinski on August 18, 1956 in Winchester County, Virginia. The couple had no children.

The couple would eventually have three children:

• Dorothy Mae Briscoe
• Frances Irene Briscoe
• Joseph Edward Briscoe

Working Years

Homemaker for about 47 years.

In the 1940s, Mary had been employed as a munitions factory worker by Federal Laboratories in Tunnelton, Indiana County, Pennsylvania. Federal Laboratories produced “incendiary magnesium powder bombs, grenades and other munitions.” She retired from Federal Laboratories in 1968. [Note: Tunnelton is a hamlet located near Saltsburg, Indiana County, Pennsylvania.]

She later worked as a housekeeper at a local rectory after her retirement.

Personal Life

She loved to dance.

Death

Mary died from a heart attack on March 10, 1994 at the Forbes Regional Hospital in Avonmore, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.

She was buried on March 21, 1994 at St. Bernard's Cemetery in Indiana, Indiana County, Pennsylvania.