Obituary: Mary Jean Povlock (Barbone)

Mary Jean Povlock (formerly Barbone), of Edgewater, Florida, age 93, passed away July 12, 2024. She was born Dec. 25, 1930, in Salamanca, New York, to Eva (Kalamanka) and Phillip Povlock. She graduated from Salamanca High School and went on to attend Syracuse University, earning a Bachelor of Science in 1952. She was a member of Kappa Delta Sorority Sigma Nu Chapter.

After graduation, she was employed by Cornell Cooperative Extension in Delaware and Sullivan counties, New York. When she married and had children, she stayed home to raise them, teaching them to cook, sew and garden. When they were teenagers, she completed a certificate in Leadership Education from the Ministry of Community and Social Services, Ontario, Canada, in 1973, and went back to Cooperative Extension in Niagara County until her retirement in 1992.

Mary Jean lived at Hacienda Del Rio in Edgewater, Florida, for the past 31 years. She was a founding member of the Garden Club, was a security guard at the gate, active in the New York Club, Red Hat Society, a volunteer at Hospice, to name a few. When asked what she liked most about Hacienda, she said it was the people – their generosity and giving of their expertise to enrich the entire community. She continued to meet new people and had friends all of all ages. She still played Pokeno and went to a craft group, Knotty Girls, in the last months of her life.

She will be remembered for her red hair, bright yellow car, getting a tattoo at 82, special Thanksgiving stuffing (which she made all year), and pineapple coffee cake.

Mary Jean is survived by her children: Cynthia Barbone (John) Golde, Patricia Barbone and John (Ann Marie) Barbone; as well as her grandchildren: Melanie (Gill) Durant, Mary Anyon, William Anyon, Jacob (Nikhila) Golde, Evan Golde and Isabella Barbone; and great-grandchildren: Holden, Stella, Sibley, Cadence, Kiley and Colton; her sister-in-law, Janet Povlock; her brother-in-law, James Larson; and by many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her son, Thomas, and by her brothers: James (Marilyn) Povlock, Thomas Povlock and Jack Povlock.

A funeral Mass and burial will be at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 13, at St. Bernard’s Catholic Church, 218 Hinman St., Youngstown.

It was Mary Jean’s wish that any memorial tributes be made in the form of charitable donations to the Salvation Army or St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.