Mary J. (Ptaszkowski) Reich

Let There Be Peace on Earth

Mary J. Reich

1919 ~ 2020

Mary was born on March 12, 1919 in Marion Heights, PA the daughter of Stanley and Victoria Ptaszkowski. She is preceded in death by her brother, 1st LT Joseph A. Ptaszkowski, air corps, her sister, Agnes Ptaszkowski, her sister of Anna Griscavage, and Anna’s children JoAnn Paul and Charles Joseph Griscavage. Mary was born to polish immigrant parents and she was the 1st in her family to graduate Kulpmont High School. After graduation she worked on a political campaign in Harrisburg, PA. She worked in a button factory then moved on to work for Star Electric in Bloomfield, NJ during WW2 making defense motors for the war effort where she met her husband of 65 years, Seymour Reich. During this time she helped to sell war bonds and had the title of “Miss Poland” of Women War Workers of Allied Nations. She lived on Littleton Ave in Newark, NJ with her mother, sister, Agnes and brother, Joey. After the war, she worked at the Maltbie Chemical Company and was certified as a key punch operator by IBM in 1946. She married Seymour on Veterans Day in 1948 and they bought their first house in 1953 in Springfield, NJ. They welcomed their daughter, Shari into their family in 1961. Mary & Seymour moved to Mountainside, NJ in 1988. After Seymour’s death in 2015, she moved into Shari’s house in Scotch Plains, NJ. Mary passed away on January 9, 2020 at the Center for Hope Hospice in Scotch Plains, NJ with Shari by her side. She is survived by her daughter, Shari, her grandchildren, great grandchildren and 4 generations of nieces and nephews.

Thank you for sharing in the celebration of her life.

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