Marie Louise Theresa Rickert Ginnane departed this life on July 22, 2022. She was a super elder who was approaching her 101st birthday. 

Marie’s parents were Caroline “Carrie” Theresa Gossl Rickert (1895 – 1979) and Richard William Rickert (1893 -1987). Each of their grandparents were born in Germany and emigrated to the United States, settling in boroughs of New York City, predominantly Brooklyn. Richard and Carrie were married in Brooklyn where their first child, Marie, was born on August 5, 1921. A new home in Richmond Hill, Queens, N.Y. was purchased and the three settled into family life at 104-24 127th St. The second and last child, Richie—Marie’s brother—enlarged the family a few years later. The German language was commonly spoken around Marie’s house especially when relatives would visit so Marie grew up speaking and understanding German, making her the go-to person for a quick German translation in the family.

Marie attended P.S. 121, graduating in 1935. The graduation program indicates she was an honor student and had perfect attendance. Marie attended Richmond Hill High School, graduating in 1939. Playing Amy in a school production of “Little Women” was an accomplishment. 

Life in Richmond Hill was family and neighborhood oriented. Marie was the one who watched and helped her talented father work in the yard, make repairs, or build things like a boat and a garage. His flowers—roses and lily-of-the-valley—graced the small yard. An ongoing repair he became adept at was tucking in shingles on next door neighbor Mrs. LeBeau’s house. The shingles became loosened when Marie backed out the very narrow driveway between the two houses as she learned to drive a car. The family camped, boated, swam, and picnicked at beaches in and around New York City such as Wading River on the Long Island Sound. Marie took piano lessons as a girl. She liked playing the piano but found the required recitals to be unsettling. 

Marie made her First Communion and Confirmation in the Catholic Church. 

After high school graduation Marie attended the Heffley Business School where she learned typing and shorthand though her shorthand was “not so good” in her words. She was then hired by the New York Telephone Company. Her first job at the phone company was to sort the mail and distribute it to cubbyhole mailboxes. A side job was to go the post office and mail her boss’s alimony checks to his ex-wife! She moved up to a job called editing which involved double-checking the service orders that the field employees wrote up. She met a nice girl at the phone company, another Marie. They mainly brought their lunch but would occasionally eat out. 

Sometime during her phone company employment Marie was introduced to Andrew John Robert Ginnane, called Bob. They married in 1944. He was in the U.S. Army awaiting orders. They lived with Carrie and Rich for a short time and then located to Alabama for Bob’s military training.

After World War II Marie and Bob moved to Brookfield, CT as one of the founding families in a small quasi-agricultural/religious community. The life and writings of Dorothy Day which concerned social service and voluntary poverty were a motivating influence. The experiment was an early back-to-the-land movement. Tending a quarter acre garden and raising farm animals provided food. A man was hired to kill the hogs which the families salted to cure. One year they gave pork chops, beans, and peaches as Christmas presents.

Marie remembered shooting some pheasants one time which turned out to belong to a neighbor who raised them. He did complain and that ended Mom’s hunting career! Toward the end of the Connecticut experiment it was clear outside income was necessary. The Ginnane family moved to Yorktown Heights, New York where six children were raised. Besides keeping the family together as a homemaker Marie later worked as a lunch lady in an elementary school, a dietary aide in a hospital, and as a teacher’s assistant in a Montessori school.

Marie’s life continued to blossom when she moved to Colorado in 1995 to share homes and family life with her son Greg, his wife Felice, and children Felice Seigneur and Eric Heffenger. 

Marie was a devout lifelong Catholic and lastly was a member of the St. Louis Parish in Louisville, CO. She sewed with the Altar and Rosary Society for many years.

Marie was pre-deceased by husband, Bob Ginnane, and sons Joe, John, Greg, and Mike. She is survived by her son Bob and her daughter Mary as well as beloved in-laws, nephews, nieces, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren.

Haiku for Marie

Across ten decades
Of discovery and change,
Shy smile at core.