Mary Eileen (McCoy) Marks

After a lifetime of volunteering her time and talents in service to others, Mary Eileen (McCoy) Marks entered eternal life as a good and faithful servant January 17 at the age of 91—thus adding to the notion that people who volunteer live longer. Born April 4, 1934, to Oley Arden and Louise (Mellinger) McCoy in Andover, Ohio, Mary began her life of service to others as a teenager in Olean, New York at First Baptist Church and Olean High School where she held leadership positions in the community service club, Hi-Y, and the American Red Cross. After graduating OHS in 1952, Mary attended William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri where she earned a degree in psychology all the while serving as an officer in the student senate and academic fraternities. She later trained at the Christian Center Program for the American Baptist Home Mission Society which assigned her to Phoenix, Arizona in 1958. A year later she married Francis Joseph Marks, who predeceased her in 1995. Her five children provided Mary ample opportunities to volunteer at their church and schools. But she took a keen interest in working with Girl Scout and Boy Scout troops. For her years of service working on the district and council levels in Arizona, the Boy Scouts of America awarded her with its prestigious Silver Beaver Award. Mary and her husband, Frank, also hosted many foreign exchange students enrolled at Maryvale High School in Phoenix through the Youth for Understanding Program. After retirement from the state of Arizona as an administrative assistant for state regulatory agencies, Mary returned to the Olean area in 1995 to care for her parents. Operating from their Allegany home which she eventually purchased, Mary typed minutes and maintained accounting spreadsheets and mailing lists for the many civic and religious non-profit organizations she served in the Olean area. These included the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels; the Olean General Hospital Auxiliary (18 years); and the Allegany Public Library (15 years) where she served as a trustee. Mary also served as a board member of Genesis House which honored her with the Marion B. Scott Award for her 12 years of exemplary volunteer service to the women and children’s shelter. Mary served 14 years on the board of the Olean High School Alumni Association. She was coordinator not only of her own class of 1952, but all 50+-year alumni. Her class honored her for working to maintain their reunions into their 70th year, the only OHS class to officially participate in the annual reunion for seven decades. In 2012 Mary was honored by the Olean YMCA with its “Salute to Olean” award for her outstanding commitment to the community. She said at the time that her most rewarding experience was witnessing the transformation of lives of so many people who have been assisted by the organizations she has helped. “Mom is never home” was a recurring complaint during her retirement years among her five children who survive her: Katherine Windsor who cared for Mary in her home in Prescott, AZ since January, 2025; Andrew (Mary) Marks who cared for her during her last years in Allegany; Jennifer (Stephen) Kane of Cuba, NY; John Marks of Miami, FL; Josef (Joy) Marks of Chesapeake, VA. Mary is also survived by her two brothers, Robert McCoy of Springville and Raymond (Mary) McCoy of Allegany along with 19 grand children and 26 great grandchildren. Besides her beloved husband and parents, Mary was predeceased by a sister, Jane McCoy Bougher; a granddaughter, Julianne Windsor; a sister-in-law, Carolyn McCoy; and a son-in-law, Scott Windsor, Sr. Mary was a member of the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites (OCDS) in the Roman Catholic Church. She and her husband were among the founding families of Our Lady of Sorrows Roman Catholic Church in Phoenix. The establishment of the new church in 1980 included bringing priests from the fraternity of the Society of St. Pius X to Arizona. This effort was part of an overall apostolate among Catholic families in Arizona since the late 1960s to help maintain the availability of traditional Catholic liturgy. A Solemn Requiem Mass will be held in Phoenix at Our Lady of Sorrows Church on January 23 at 9:30 am (750 E Baseline Road), followed by a private interment service at the National Memorial Cemetery (2929 E. Pinnacle Peak Rd). A Memorial Mass will be held at the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels in Olean on July 3, 2026at 10:00am. Memorial donations can be made to Genesis House of Olean, Inc. 107 S. Barry St. Olean, NY 14760or online at https://www.genesishouseofolean.org/donate. In honor of Mary’s life of service to others, you may also consider taking that extra step to volunteer your time to a charity that spreads the love of Jesus or to a person in need.

Mary Eileen (McCoy) Marks

April 4, 1934 - January 17, 2026