Mary Frances Bays, 99, of Jacksonville died Saturday, February 13, 2016, at Heritage Health in Jacksonville.
Mary Frances Berry was born to Mason Berry and Mabel Ellis Berry on October 14, 1916, at Maple Hill Farm near Pompey, New York. She was the third of four Berry children. As a child, she survived whooping cough, pneumonia and the tuberculosis that destroyed the family dairy herd and infected her brother, John Alson Berry. Mary Frances went to Collegiate Center in Syracuse, New York. for two years, where she studied English and U.S. economic history. Mary Frances graduated from Temple University in 1940 with a degree in history.
In 1942, Temple University contacted Mary Frances and asked her to join the U.S. Army Signal Corps, where she learned how to operate a lathe, do acetylene welding and how to read blueprints. The Signal Corps sent Mary Frances to Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, for three months of training in radio engineering. When she finished that training, she was dispatched to a radio assembly plant in Bloomington, Indiana.
After the war she returned to Philadelphia and graduated from Drexel University in 1946 with a degree in library science and went on to work in New York City libraries. She married Edwin Arnold on June 13, 1953. Her son, Edwin Alexander, was born in 1959. She divorced Edwin in 1962 and married Glen Bays in 1966. She lived with Glen in Fabius, New York, until he died in 1985. In 2006, she moved to Jacksonville with the assistance of her nephew, Charley Frank.
She is survived by her sister, Sylvia Shoebridge; her son, Alex; two grandchildren; and several great-grandchildren.
A private ceremony and burial at Pompey Hill Cemetery in Pompey, New York, is planned for a later date.
Published in Jacksonville Journal-Courier on Feb. 22, 2016
Mary Frances Berry was born to Mason Berry and Mabel Ellis Berry on October 14, 1916, at Maple Hill Farm near Pompey, New York. She was the third of four Berry children. As a child, she survived whooping cough, pneumonia and the tuberculosis that destroyed the family dairy herd and infected her brother, John Alson Berry. Mary Frances went to Collegiate Center in Syracuse, New York. for two years, where she studied English and U.S. economic history. Mary Frances graduated from Temple University in 1940 with a degree in history.
In 1942, Temple University contacted Mary Frances and asked her to join the U.S. Army Signal Corps, where she learned how to operate a lathe, do acetylene welding and how to read blueprints. The Signal Corps sent Mary Frances to Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, for three months of training in radio engineering. When she finished that training, she was dispatched to a radio assembly plant in Bloomington, Indiana.
After the war she returned to Philadelphia and graduated from Drexel University in 1946 with a degree in library science and went on to work in New York City libraries. She married Edwin Arnold on June 13, 1953. Her son, Edwin Alexander, was born in 1959. She divorced Edwin in 1962 and married Glen Bays in 1966. She lived with Glen in Fabius, New York, until he died in 1985. In 2006, she moved to Jacksonville with the assistance of her nephew, Charley Frank.
She is survived by her sister, Sylvia Shoebridge; her son, Alex; two grandchildren; and several great-grandchildren.
A private ceremony and burial at Pompey Hill Cemetery in Pompey, New York, is planned for a later date.
Published in Jacksonville Journal-Courier on Feb. 22, 2016
Mary Frances Bays, 99, of Jacksonville died Saturday, February 13, 2016, at Heritage Health in Jacksonville.
Mary Frances Berry was born to Mason Berry and Mabel Ellis Berry on October 14, 1916, at Maple Hill Farm near Pompey, New York. She was the third of four Berry children. As a child, she survived whooping cough, pneumonia and the tuberculosis that destroyed the family dairy herd and infected her brother, John Alson Berry. Mary Frances went to Collegiate Center in Syracuse, New York. for two years, where she studied English and U.S. economic history. Mary Frances graduated from Temple University in 1940 with a degree in history.
In 1942, Temple University contacted Mary Frances and asked her to join the U.S. Army Signal Corps, where she learned how to operate a lathe, do acetylene welding and how to read blueprints. The Signal Corps sent Mary Frances to Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, for three months of training in radio engineering. When she finished that training, she was dispatched to a radio assembly plant in Bloomington, Indiana.
After the war she returned to Philadelphia and graduated from Drexel University in 1946 with a degree in library science and went on to work in New York City libraries. She married Edwin Arnold on June 13, 1953. Her son, Edwin Alexander, was born in 1959. She divorced Edwin in 1962 and married Glen Bays in 1966. She lived with Glen in Fabius, New York, until he died in 1985. In 2006, she moved to Jacksonville with the assistance of her nephew, Charley Frank.
She is survived by her sister, Sylvia Shoebridge; her son, Alex; two grandchildren; and several great-grandchildren.
A private ceremony and burial at Pompey Hill Cemetery in Pompey, New York, is planned for a later date.
Published in Jacksonville Journal-Courier on Feb. 22, 2016
Mary Frances Berry was born to Mason Berry and Mabel Ellis Berry on October 14, 1916, at Maple Hill Farm near Pompey, New York. She was the third of four Berry children. As a child, she survived whooping cough, pneumonia and the tuberculosis that destroyed the family dairy herd and infected her brother, John Alson Berry. Mary Frances went to Collegiate Center in Syracuse, New York. for two years, where she studied English and U.S. economic history. Mary Frances graduated from Temple University in 1940 with a degree in history.
In 1942, Temple University contacted Mary Frances and asked her to join the U.S. Army Signal Corps, where she learned how to operate a lathe, do acetylene welding and how to read blueprints. The Signal Corps sent Mary Frances to Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, for three months of training in radio engineering. When she finished that training, she was dispatched to a radio assembly plant in Bloomington, Indiana.
After the war she returned to Philadelphia and graduated from Drexel University in 1946 with a degree in library science and went on to work in New York City libraries. She married Edwin Arnold on June 13, 1953. Her son, Edwin Alexander, was born in 1959. She divorced Edwin in 1962 and married Glen Bays in 1966. She lived with Glen in Fabius, New York, until he died in 1985. In 2006, she moved to Jacksonville with the assistance of her nephew, Charley Frank.
She is survived by her sister, Sylvia Shoebridge; her son, Alex; two grandchildren; and several great-grandchildren.
A private ceremony and burial at Pompey Hill Cemetery in Pompey, New York, is planned for a later date.
Published in Jacksonville Journal-Courier on Feb. 22, 2016
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