1926 – 2014

HOWLAND — Mary P. Handy, 88, formerly of West Main Street, Greene, died Wednesday, Sept. 17, at Cummings Health Care in Howland.

She was born in Boston on April 17, 1926, the daughter of the late Wincenty and Olga Krienke Golleski. She was educated in Boston schools, graduating from Roxbury Memorial High School for Girls. Mary was employed as a secretary and one of her many jobs was as a payroll clerk for the Moxie Soda Co. in Massachusetts, where she met her husband. She was married to Fred W. Handy Feb. 12, 1946, and he predeceased her in 2003.

While a resident of Greene, Mary attended Grace Lutheran Church in Auburn. She loved gardening, cooking, reading, writing, art and music, and she played the accordion and piano. Like her own mother, she was a true “katzenmutter” — German for “cat mother.” Nothing was more important in her life than her family.

She is survived by two daughters, Susan E. Brown and husband, Donald, of Howland, and Bonnie I. Handy and husband, Jeffrey Pollard, of Gray; a grandson, Robert K. Whitney and wife, Samantha, of Chester; three great-grandchildren, Timothy James, Katherine and Emily Whitney; a sister, Helen Hovestadt and husband, John, of Auburn; nieces, Linda Clark and Diane Webber-Rawson; wonderful friends, Tony, Sue and Levi Brogna; and a special kitty named Mr. Longfellow.

She was predeceased by a grandson, James Whitney; two sisters, Josephine Golleski and Adeline Rhode; and three brothers, Charles, Otto and Edmund Rhode.

You are invited to share your condolences with the Handy family by visiting their guestbook at www.thefortingroupauburn.com.