Spingola

Mary Joan Spingola of Butler, formerly of New Jersey, died Monday following a long and courageous battle with Parkinson's disease.

Mrs. Spingola was born in New York City and raised in Jersey City, N.J., the oldest of five children of Clara and Michael Martine.

She left high school early to work and help support her family, finishing her degree through night school.

During World War II, she was a uniformed guard in a defense plant to support the military effort and was employed at Western Electric for many years.

She married Edward Flynn, who was killed in a work-related railroad accident. She had a son, Edward Charles, who was killed in a traffic accident while walking to grade school.

She married her second husband, Charles I. Spingola, in 1954 and relocated to Kenilworth, N.J., where she lived until 2007.

Mrs. Spingola worked as a bookkeeper in a metal fabricating plant until 2007.

She was devoted to her church, St. Theresa in Kenilworth, and was an active member of the Rosary Society, the Catholic Daughters of America, and volunteered as the "pizza cashier" at its weekly bingo, parish carnivals and vacation Bible school for many years. Earlier, Mrs. Spingola actively supported youth through her involvement in Girl Scouts and Cub Scouts as a troop leader and den mother.

Mrs. Spingola always went out of her way to help others, and no family gathering could begin until she arrived with her enormous trays of homemade cookies. She took tremendous pride in her family and no visit with her was complete until the most recent photographs of her three granddaughters were thoroughly reviewed. She truly represented a life well lived in all aspects of family, faith, service and dedication.

Mrs. Spingola was preceded in death by her parents, her first husband, Edward Flynn; her son, Edward Charles Flynn; her second husband, Charles I. Spingola, and a sister, Eleanor Werbalis.

She is survived by a son, Dr. Charles E. Spingola; a daughter-in-law, Kathy; and her three granddaughters, Margaret, Elizabeth and Kathryn Spingola, all of Butler. She also is survived by her sisters, Catherine Gauer of Kenilworth, N.J., Ruth O'Connor of Tinton Falls, N.J.; and a brother, George Martine of Somers Point, N.J. Additionally, Mrs. Spingola is survived by a large number of nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews, who were devoted in their love and care for "Aunt Mary."

<B>SPINGOLA</B> — Funeral arrangements and interment for Mary Joan Spingola, who died Monday, Dec. 28, 2009, will be in New Jersey.In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations to the Rosary Society or the Catholic Daughters of America c/o St. Theresa Church, 541 Washington Ave., Kenilworth, NJ 07033.Local arrangements are handled by the <B>Geibel Funeral Home</B>.