Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009
Mary L. Marton
by Caitlin Moran | Staff Writer
Maryland Community Newspapers Online
Marton, who became ill about three months ago, had served on the city's Board of Elections for nearly 30 years, most of the time as its chair. Even though she had been bedridden for much of her illness — which her family declined to name — Marton was at the Phelps Center on election day, offering guidance to city officials and advising the judges who were overseeing the polling center.
Her son, Robert J. Marton of Laurel, said his mother went back to the hospital for the last time two days later.
"That role of helping people was the most important thing to her," he said.
Mary Marton was born May 4, 1920, in Mount Savage to William and Genevieve Hopkins. Her family moved to Laurel in 1934, and she graduated from St. Mildred's Academy — now St. Vincent Pallotti High School — in 1938.
Over the next several decades, her life mirrored what was happening in Laurel and the rest of the country, Robert J. Marton said. During World War II, she participated in a number of home-front efforts, including walking the streets of Laurel each night to make sure everyone had blacked out their windows. She also volunteered as a plane spotter — someone who stood in the old bell tower at what is now the Phelps Center and kept an eye out for suspicious aircraft.
"She would actually stand out there with binoculars and look for enemy planes," he said.
She married Robert L. Marton in 1946, and the couple had four children. She is survived by her husband, her sister Winifred Morgans of Laurel, and her children — Robert J. Marton of Laurel, Rosemary Pusso of Charlotte, N.C., Lu Anne Fazio of Mt. Airy, Md., and William H. Marton of Eldersburg, Md. She also leaves behind 10 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Her niece, Mary Eileen Leszcz, said she has fond memories of growing up across the street from her aunt on Prince George Street. When Leszcz had children of her own, Marton took on the role of "a second grandmother," she said.
"She was a very kind and loving woman," Leszcz said. "She loved her great nieces and nephews almost as much as her grandchildren."
Mary Marton worked at Citizens National Bank on Main Street for about 40 years before retiring in 2006. Debra Knox, who worked with her for 34 years, said she was a skilled teller and customer service representative who always knew how to handle clients' requests.
"Everybody would ask for Mary. She was a special lady to a lot of bank customers," Knox said.
Her dedication to volunteer activities also continued throughout her adult life as she volunteered in the Laurel Regional Hospital gift shop for 20 years and was an active parishioner at St. Mary of the Mills Catholic Church.
"Anything that needed to be done, she was there," said city spokesman James Collins. "She was what a volunteer is all about."