Mary Louise Berish
Page edited 28-Jun-2024. ET
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. Mary wore corrective eyeglasses in her later years.
Early Years
- Childhood - During her youth, she contracted typhoid fever and almost died.
- Siblings
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 Mary and Joe would eventually have three children:
Residences
Lived in House 413 in Aultman, Indiana County, Pennsylvania in 1940
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. Mary’s grave is located at St. Bernard’s Cemetery which is located at 200 Clairvaux Drive in Indiana, PA 15701 about one and half miles northeast of Indiana, Pennsylvania.