Obituary of Mary Lou McGarrell

Elmira: passed away Wednesday, June 12, 2013, at her home, with her family by her side. Mary Lou was a kind and unselfish woman. She enjoyed life as a wife, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. A graduate of Elmira Catholic High and, in 1950, from St. Joseph's Hospital School of Nursing. She worked for two years as an R.N. at St. Joe's and then as a visiting nurse. After moving to Muskogee, OK, with her husband, she worked in a doctor's office until her first child was born. The family moved four more times before moving back to Elmira in 1966. She was happy to be back in Elmira to be able to help her parents through their own health problems. Mary Lou stayed home with her three children until her mother required nursing home care. She then worked at the Chemung County Nursing Facility where her mother was a patient. She retired after 15 years of service. Mary Lou loved her nursing profession and her classmates of 1950, planning and hosting many reunions through the years. Mary Lou and her husband, Ed, just celebrated 60 wonderful years of marriage with a vow renewal at home with family and friends. She was predeceased by her parents Frank and Bridget (Beatrice Moran) Cox, and infant daughter, Colleen. Survivors include her husband of 60 years Edmund John, Jr.; son Edmund Francis and Donna (Mengel) McGarrell, East Lansing MI; daughters, Molly Rumbarger and fiancé Michael Brown, and Colleen and Leonard Mourhess, both of Corning; grandchildren, Corey Edmund and Amanda Jane McGarrell of Indiana, Erin Colleen and Richard Brian Hollingshead of Tennessee, Devon Marie Rumbarger of Pennsylvania and Casey Nicole Rumbarger of Corning; great grandchildren, Marissa Jane McGarrell and her baby brother expected in August of Indiana; brothers and sisters, Dorothy E. McInnis of Massachusetts, Frank J. (Rosalie) Cox of Horseheads, Robert E. (Mary) Cox of Maryland, and Eleanor J. Woodward of Connecticut; sister-in-law Jean (Leo) Klaes of Tennessee; and many nieces and nephews. Friends are invited to McInerny Funeral Home, 502 W. Water St., Elmira, on Sunday, June 16, 2013 from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Mary Lou's Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Monday, June 17, 2013 at 10:00 a.m. at Our Lady of Lourdes Church. Interment, with committal prayers, will follow at St. Peter & Paul's Cemetery. Charitable contributions to Christ the Redeemer Parish, 1012 Davis St., Elmira NY 14901, Catholic Charities, 215 E. Church St., Elmira NY 14901 or CareFirst, 11751 E. Corning Rd., Corning NY 14830, are requested in lieu of flowers. St. Joseph's School of Nursing alumni will meet at 9:45 a.m. at Our Lady of Lourdes Church to form an honor guard for Mary Lou.