Mary C. Rentschler

Mary Cecelia Rentschler of St. Davids, PA, passed away on December 6 after a short illness. She was 99 years old.

Mary was born on February 28, 1923, to John and Kathryn Rentschler in Scranton, PA. She grew up with her younger siblings Louise and John and enjoyed a happy childhood helping herself to treats from her grandfather’s bakery.

After business school, Mary began a long and successful career at the Bell Telephone Company in various offices in central Pennsylvania. She worked her way up from service representative to the company’s first female second-level manager in the region. A particularly proud accomplishment of her career was a special project to translate the phonebook into computer language while in New York City. There, she both impressed her colleagues and took the opportunity to sample many of the city’s fine restaurants. Mary was transferred to the Philadelphia office in 1976, when she moved from Kingston to St. Davids, and retired in 1985.

After retirement, Mary continued to live in St. Davids, where she was an active parishioner of Saint Katharine of Siena and a regular at many area restaurants. Throughout her life, she loved to travel with friends and toured countries throughout Europe. She also served with the Pioneers volunteer network. Mary frequently visited family across the United States and could always be counted on to support (and spoil) her nieces and nephews, while impressing upon them the importance of good manners. Mary was known for her impeccable style, generosity and wit. Others described her as a great conversationalist. She loved shopping, art and Häagen-Dazs ice cream. She was a woman of strong Catholic faith and deeply loved her family.

Mary was predeceased by her parents, her sister Louise, her brother John and her brother-in-law Dick. She is survived by her sister-in-law Barbara, her nieces and nephews—William, John, Lisa, Linda, Theodore, Paula and Susan—their spouses, her 12 great-nieces and -nephews, and three great- grandnieces.

Services will be held at Saint Katharine of Siena Church, 104 S. Aberdeen Avenue, Wayne, PA on Friday, December 9, 2022 at 11:00 AM.  Interment Cathedral Cemetery, Scranton, PA.  

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Eternal Word Television Network, Inc. (EWTN), 5817 Old Leeds Road, Irondale, AL 35210 (800) 447-EWTN.