Mary E Burns' Obituary
Mary (Hanlin) Burns of Palmyra died peacefully on Thursday, August 25, 2016, at Virtua Memorial Hospital, surrounded by her loving family. She was 96.
Mary was born and raised in center-city Philadelphia and never lost her affection for
the city. Every Friday was "going into town day" with her two sisters and her sister-in-
law for a day of shopping and, maybe, a Manhattan.
After moving to Riverton in her late twenties, she became an active member of Sacred Heart Parish for nearly 70 years. Despite being the mother of seven active children, Mary served as PTA President and also volunteered at St. John of God School for Children with Special Needs in Westville.
Mary was a cheerful, positive person who lived a full and happy life. She showed kindness and respect to everyone she met. She genuinely loved people and cultivated a wide circle of friends, including the women of the long-standing Bridge Club. Her Irish heritage was always in evidence in her gift of telling a tale and her ability to make you laugh, often by poking fun at her own foibles. But when life did bring her problems, she always relied on her Catholic faith to get her through the tough times.
But her most outstanding trait was her love for and devotion to her family. There was no sacrifice that she would not make for them. All of the grandchildren loved going to visit grandmom - she was so totally interested in every aspect of their lives and her joy in seeing them was clearly evident on her face. No family member ever missed a holiday celebration at Mary's house because the love and care that she put into each occasion guaranteed it would be wonderful. And it was. It is an understatement to say that Mary was a tremendous source of pride to her family and a role model of the highest caliber. She set the standard for love of and devotion to family and she will truly be missed beyond measure.
Mary was pre-deceased by her beloved husband, Joseph A. Burns, after 51 years of
marriage. She was also pre-deceased by her devoted son and daughter, Joseph D. Burns and Kathleen Keller.
She is survived by her loving children, Michael Burns (Dolores) of Cherry Hill, Francis X. Burns of Palmyra, Mary Witkowski (Stephen) of Ewing, Patricia Carter (Randall) of
Sewickley, PA, Peg Bonstead (Allen) of Cinnaminson and daughter-in-law, Sandra Burns (the late Joseph) of Delran.
She is also survived by 11 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, Catherine
Funciello (Thomas) of Baltimore, MD, Joseph M. Burns (Laura) of Delran, John Burns
of Delran, Colleen Burns of Philadelphia, Katie Siracusa (Mark) of Cranbury, Robert
Carter (Chiara) of New York City, Tess Caputo (James) of New York City, David Carter and fiancé Kristen, of New York City, Stephen Witkowski of Ewing, Brian Witkowski
of Crystal City, VA and Michael Bonstead of Cinnaminson. Great-Grandchildren
include Russell Joseph Siracusa of Cranbury and Timothy Joseph Carter of New York City.
Friends and relatives are invited to Mary's Life Celebration on Wednesday, August 31st from 10:00am to 11:00am at Sacred Heart Church, 103 4th Street and Linden Avenue, Riverton, NJ. Her Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11:00am. Interment will be at Lakeview Memorial Park in Cinnaminson, NJ.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Mary's memory may be made to the Catholic Charities, Diocese of Trenton by visiting www.catholiccharitiestrenton.org/donate/.
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