Mary M. (Furlong) Krupa

RENOVO - Mary M. (Furlong) Krupa, 92, died peacefully after a brief illness at the home of her daughter and son-in-law, Susan and Richard Grotzinger in Sumter, SC on May 29, 2011. Mary was born in Renovo on January 31, 1919 to the late James and Gertrude (Liddy) Furlong and she attended St. Joseph Elementary and High School. She graduated in 1937 and then worked at various jobs including as a clerk at J.J. Newberry’s and as an operator for Bell Telephone. Mary was the only operator on duty when it was announced that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. She said that, “the board lit up like a Christmas tree” with everyone wanting to make a call at the same time. When her brother, Jack Furlong, stepped down as Registrar of Voters for Clinton County in 1942, he chose Mary to be his successor. She held that position until the late 1940s when she became a teller at the Citizen’s Bank (now Sovereign Bank) in Renovo. She married Robert V. Krupa on July 28, 1952 at St. Joseph Church and at that time devoted herself to being a wife and mother. She was a lifelong communicant of St. Joseph Catholic Church as well as a member of the Altar and Rosary Society and the Catholic Daughters of the Americas. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband in 2005 (at which time she moved to South Carolina) and her brother and sister-in-law John and Patricia Furlong of New Jersey. In addition to her daughter and son-in-law, she is survived by a son, James, of Lowell, Massachusetts and Ogunquit, Maine and two granddaughters, Kathryn Grotzinger of Sumter, SC and Laura Grotzinger of Charleston, SC. Many nieces and nephews also survive her. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated 10:30 A.M., Tuesday, July 5, 2011 at St. Joseph Church, 925 Huron Ave., Renovo with Rev. Michael Roach officiating. Friends and relatives will be received at the church one-hour prior to the mass. Interment will be at St. Joseph Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the Improvement Fund of St. Joseph Church. The Maxwell Funeral Home of Renovo is handling arrangements. Send condolences at BestLifeTributes.com