Mary Buck

Mary Iorantha Buck, 89, of University Park, MD, passed away on Friday, August 18, 2017, at home surrounded by her loving family. She was predeceased by the love of her life, David Ernest Buck, Sr., whom she married January 14, 1956, her sisters Marian Slade and Rosemary Tobin, her brother Fr. Thomas F. Tobin, S.J., her son John Warren, her daughter Rosemary, and her granddaughter Grace Miriam. Io leaves behind her daughters Mary Ellen Harding of University Park, and Isabel (Robert) McEachern of Hamden, CT; her sons Joseph (Christine Welsh) of Campbell, CA; David, Jr. (Sally) of Fort Lauderdale, FL; Lee (Mary) of University Park; Thomas (Mary Shortino) of Portland, OR; Philip (Christina Higgins) of Cleveland, OH; and Michael (Julie) of Huntingtown, MD; and her grandchildren Julia, Angela, David, III; Max, Sam, Emily, Molly, Brendan, Bridget, Olivia, William, and May Buck, Amy Harding, and Peter, John, and Catherine McEachern of whom she was very proud, two sisters-in-law and numerous nieces and nephews. Io was born in Memphis, TN to Joseph Tobin and Rosemary Lardner, and later moved to Chicago and Albany, NY, where she attended Berkeley Junior College and worked at Laidlaw Brokerage House before moving to Washington, D.C., where she met her husband. In her early marriage, she lived in Bridgeport, CT and Ogdensburg, NY, before settling in Hyattsville in 1960 and moving to University Park in 1969. Io was a full-time mother and homemaker for her own family and to any child who needed her; many of her children’s friends saw Io as a second mother. She was an active member of St. Mark’s Parish in Hyattsville for many years, where her children attended school and she and her husband taught C.C.D. classes. Later, Io earned a degree in Education for Parish Service from Trinity College in Washington, D.C. and then, served as Director of Religious Education at St. Mark’s and was an adult-literacy volunteer. She was a daily Communicant, an avid reader, bridge player, and lifelong learner, frequently attending lectures, plays, and performances with her many friends. Io’s family and friends will always remember her for her great faith, her eternal optimism and gratitude, and her insistence on always seeking and recognizing the inherent goodness in every human heart. Friends may call at Gasch’s Funeral Home, P.A., 4739 Baltimore Avenue, Hyattsville, MD on Monday, August 21 from 2 to 4 PM and 7 to 9 PM. A Funeral Mass will be offered at St. Jerome’s Catholic Church, 5205 43rd Avenue, Hyattsville, MD on Tuesday, August 22 at 10:30 AM. Interment will be at Gate of Heaven Cemetery. In lieu of flowers,donations can be made to Catholic Relief Services 50 F St NW, Washington, DC 20001 and to Isaiah's Promise at www.isaiahspromise.net