Obituary for MaryAnn Ollis
MaryAnn (Marion) Ollis was born on August 25, 1929 in Boston, MA she passed away at her home in Brooklyn, NY on Wednesday, February 9, 2022. She was surrounded by her 4 children and went peacefully in her sleep.
She moved to Brooklyn at the age of 5 and that is where her heart has been ever since. She was a devout Catholic and never missed mass, even if it was in Spanish or Italian she followed along because she knew it in her soul.
MaryAnn started her careers as a switch board operator for the telephone company, from there she raised her family, going back to work with Family Life, then the Diocesan Office of Catholic Education where she worked until they made her retire at the age 78. After retirement MaryAnn never stopped, she was very active in her church and community. At the age of 90 she was still assisting in the baptisms at church each month, giving out the instructions and helping with the babies, oh how she loved to be around babies, she was the bingo caller at the senior group, a member in the crocheting club that made blankets for the babies in the neonatal ward at the hospital, she loved her bus rides to Atlantic City each month with her senior group, and she even collected her newspapers to bring up to the dog shelter each week.
MaryAnn loved life, her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren along with her entire extended family. She loved her house full of people, from playing cards on Saturday night with her husband and friends, big Sunday dinners with pasta as the main dish, Jell-O was always the dessert of choice after every meal, enjoyed baking her Christmas cookies with her family by her side. MaryAnn never learned how to drive, why should she, she lived in Brooklyn, there was a train or a bus to get everywhere. She gallivanted the neighborhood and everyone knew her. Boy did she love to shop; she would often be seen on Church Ave in the thrift stores. Call her up for a trip to Vegas and she was on the plane. The one thing you could count on is if there was music she was dancing, how she loved to dance.
MaryAnn was predeceased by her husband Thomas, her parents Phyllis and Richard John, her brothers Richard, Robert and Thomas John. She is survived by her children Thomas Ollis, Richard Ollis and his wife Kathrine, Phyllis Mekler, Marion Alameda and her husband Joseph. 11 grandchildren Rocco, Kristy, Thomas, Sandra, Matthew, Richard, Jessica, David, Michael, Maria and Justine. 13 great grandchildren Rocco, Thomas, Shayn, Nicholas, Sofia, Guiliana, Ariana, Emma, Jude, Braden, Hazel, Kason, and Adelaide.
Visitation will be held on Sunday, February 13, 2022 at 2:00PM to 8:00PM at the Andrew Torregrossa & Sons, Inc. Funeral Homes, 1305 79th St, Brooklyn, NY 11228. Funeral Services will be held on Monday February 14, 2022 at 10:00am with a Mass at Immaculate Heart of Mary, 2805 Fort Hamilton Pkwy, Brooklyn, NY 11218. Mass will be livestreamed on Immaculate Heart of Mary Website. Interment to follow at St. Charles Cemetery, Farmingdale, NY.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in MaryAnn’s honor to St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, https://www.stjude.org/give.html
She moved to Brooklyn at the age of 5 and that is where her heart has been ever since. She was a devout Catholic and never missed mass, even if it was in Spanish or Italian she followed along because she knew it in her soul.
MaryAnn started her careers as a switch board operator for the telephone company, from there she raised her family, going back to work with Family Life, then the Diocesan Office of Catholic Education where she worked until they made her retire at the age 78. After retirement MaryAnn never stopped, she was very active in her church and community. At the age of 90 she was still assisting in the baptisms at church each month, giving out the instructions and helping with the babies, oh how she loved to be around babies, she was the bingo caller at the senior group, a member in the crocheting club that made blankets for the babies in the neonatal ward at the hospital, she loved her bus rides to Atlantic City each month with her senior group, and she even collected her newspapers to bring up to the dog shelter each week.
MaryAnn loved life, her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren along with her entire extended family. She loved her house full of people, from playing cards on Saturday night with her husband and friends, big Sunday dinners with pasta as the main dish, Jell-O was always the dessert of choice after every meal, enjoyed baking her Christmas cookies with her family by her side. MaryAnn never learned how to drive, why should she, she lived in Brooklyn, there was a train or a bus to get everywhere. She gallivanted the neighborhood and everyone knew her. Boy did she love to shop; she would often be seen on Church Ave in the thrift stores. Call her up for a trip to Vegas and she was on the plane. The one thing you could count on is if there was music she was dancing, how she loved to dance.
MaryAnn was predeceased by her husband Thomas, her parents Phyllis and Richard John, her brothers Richard, Robert and Thomas John. She is survived by her children Thomas Ollis, Richard Ollis and his wife Kathrine, Phyllis Mekler, Marion Alameda and her husband Joseph. 11 grandchildren Rocco, Kristy, Thomas, Sandra, Matthew, Richard, Jessica, David, Michael, Maria and Justine. 13 great grandchildren Rocco, Thomas, Shayn, Nicholas, Sofia, Guiliana, Ariana, Emma, Jude, Braden, Hazel, Kason, and Adelaide.
Visitation will be held on Sunday, February 13, 2022 at 2:00PM to 8:00PM at the Andrew Torregrossa & Sons, Inc. Funeral Homes, 1305 79th St, Brooklyn, NY 11228. Funeral Services will be held on Monday February 14, 2022 at 10:00am with a Mass at Immaculate Heart of Mary, 2805 Fort Hamilton Pkwy, Brooklyn, NY 11218. Mass will be livestreamed on Immaculate Heart of Mary Website. Interment to follow at St. Charles Cemetery, Farmingdale, NY.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in MaryAnn’s honor to St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, https://www.stjude.org/give.html