Mary Sontag

Mary Gwendolyn (Griffith Smith) Sontag of Beverly Hills, Michigan, formerly of Massena, NY, passed away on April 7, 2024, at the age of 99.  In accordance with her wishes, she is participating in the Anatomical Donation Program at the University of Michigan Medical School.  Arrangements will be with the Hammill Funeral Home of Winthrop, upon conclusion of the program.

Mary is predeceased by her father Clarence J. Griffith, Mother Mary E. (Flavin Griffith) Foy, brother clarence (Wealthea) Griffith and William (Joyce) Griffith, stepfather Robert Earl Foy and husbands Donald J. Smith and Howard A. Sontag

She is survived by her four children: James (Anne) Smith, Jonathan (Patti) Smith, Mary (Nader Honarkhah) Sontag and Ann (Erik) Brandt, seven grandchildren, Benjamin, and Michael Smith (SC), Catherine McGregor (Massena), Shana Kiminski (GA), Jonathan Smith (NC) and Alison and Thomas Brandt (MI), and seven great grandchildren, Hayden and Jackson McGregor, Ambrose Kiminski, Camden and Reid Smith, and Rylan and Ainsley Smith.

Mary was a graduate of Watertown School of Commerce and worked at Alcoa supporting the Mechanical Engineering Department. With her children grown, she chose to further advance her education.  She completed her Associate (SUNY Canton 1976) and Bachelor (Saginaw Valley State University 1978) degrees, then returned to the workplace where she enjoyed 17 fruitful years as a Court Recorder/Administrative Assistant for a blind attorney and judge in the Bay County Michigan Court System.

Throughout her life, Mary was active I her community and church.  She was very generous with her time, talent, and resources.  Her hobbies included cooking, gardening, sewing, knitting, crocheting, painting, and writing children’s stories.  Her final literary endeavor was a retrospective of memorable moments from her life, along with illustrations.  She touched a lot of lives; she will be dearly missed.