In Memoriam : Mary Backes

Mary Backes Mary Martin Backes - age: 91
(May 19, 1918 to October 22, 2009 )
Resident of Manasquan, New Jersey

Visitation Information:
Sunday October 25, 2009 4pm until 7 pm
Mass of Christian Burial 9:30 am Monday October 26, 2009 at St. Mark's Church, Sea Girt.
Interment will follow at St. Catharine's Cemetery, Sea Girt.

Obituary:
Mary Martin Backes passed into eternal life on Thursday, October 22, 2009 at 91 years of age. Mary was born in Paterson, NJ in 1918; the youngest of four siblings, her parents were Isabella and Joseph Martin. Her sisters, Helen and Margaret and brother Joseph predeceased her. She attended Saint Joseph grammar school and high school in Paterson. Mary received her teaching degree from Paterson Normal School-Paterson State Teachers College. She married John Joseph Backes in 1942 and raised two sons Jack and Timothy in Hawthorne, NJ before moving to Sea Girt in 1966. In 2001 John and Mary moved to Four Seasons in Wall Township. She enjoyed a loving marriage to John J. Backes Sr. for 61 years prior to his death in 2004.

Mary worked as a business office supervisor at New Jersey Bell Telephone Company at offices in Ridgewood and Paterson. Mary was a member and officer of the St. Anthony PTA in Hawthorne for many years. She was a member of the Sea Girt Fire Auxiliary, Sea Girt Lighthouse Association, St. Mark’s Altar-Rosary Society and Sea Girt Woman’s Club. She held the position of Treasurer for the Woman’s Club for 28 of the 33 year membership. She also worked for a number of years as a volunteer at the VNA Thrift Shop in Manasquan. Mary was a devout Catholic all her life and a communicant of St. Mark’s Parish, Sea Girt.

She will be sorely missed by the members of her family that survive her, including: her son Timothy Martin Backes and his partner Herb Altheimer of Corrales, NM and John J Backes Jr. and his wife Judy of Wall; grandchildren Meredith Backes, Nora Nasto and her husband Dean of Berkeley Heights and Ryan Backes and his wife Angela of Brick; two great grandsons, Justin Matthew Nasto and Henry James Backes and a third great grandson expected in December; her nephew Frank Hall, Jr. and niece Margie Welle and her devoted companion Leila Razmadze.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend the visitation Sunday October 25, from 4pm until 7pm at Orender Family Home for Funerals, 2643 Old Bridge Road, Manasquan. A mass of Christian Burial will be 9:30 am Monday October 26 at St. Mark’s Church, Sea Girt. Interment will follow at St. Catharine’s Cemetery, Sea Girt. In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made to St. Mark’s Spanish Ministry 215 Crescent Pkwy, Sea Girt, NJ 08750. Condolences and memories can be e-mailed from www.orenderfamilyhome.com.