Magdalena "Marlene" Mast

Our mother…Marlene Mast Our mother, Magdalena Schmitt, later known as Marlene, was born in Bad Kissingen on June 12, 1939 to Joseph and Anna Schmitt. She was the youngest and called herself in later years a "…change of life baby." Her mother died shortly after her birth. World War II hit their family hard and by the end of the war it was very difficult financially on the Schmitt's. The decision was made at age 12 to send Magdalena to America to live with her mother's family, the Saliter's, who were established here. She stayed with her Aunt Barbara, who sponsored her, and lived with her Uncle Karl and Aunt Hilde, as well as her Aunt Mary in a 3 story brick building in Woodside, Queens. It was at this time she started to go by Marlene. She was left back in High School due to the language barrier, learned English and graduated in 1958. It was at this time she met Fred Mast, our father, who took her to her High School Prom. On September 17th, 1960 they were married. Mom was a bookkeeper for a bank, but always wanted to be a homemaker and a mother. Mom and Dad had some wonderful times but Mom had difficulty conceiving, and they decided to take the wonderful step to adopt children. In 1967 they adopted Stephen and in 1970, Christine. Mom was a wonderful parent and wife. She was one of the most caring women one could know. When they bought the house we grew up in, she and Dad and her Aunt Barbara decide to live together and we all helped out each other. Mom was a wonderful mother. She looked out for our every need. Every night dinner was made. We always got to school on time. She learned to drive to be able to bring us to school. Holidays she cooked for the family and we had wonderful times with our aunts, uncles, and cousins. Our neighborhood was alive with kids and Mom was a vibrant part of that group. Our parents lived in the middle of the block in Franklin Square so all the neighbors ended up in front of our house and Mom talked to all of them. She made sure that we talked to all of them with respect and made sure we always had a place to play. She and Dad took us to Lake George every year, and Florida several times. Mom loved to crochet, and made literally hundreds of blankets, scarves, hats and mittens. She gave away more blankets than she kept and we like to think her blankets (called afghans) are all over the country and perhaps the world. There are pictures on Facebook of family members with their afghans. We had a Native American Pow-Wow and her afghans were raffled off for charity and for our school club. They've been donated to the homeless. Mom also loved her pets. We always had pets growing up, cats from the beginning and when we had the chicken pox, our first dog. At one point we had fish, canaries, and cats at the same time…until Stephen developed allergies. Mom always read about animals, loved movies and documentaries about animals, and helped by donating to charitable organizations and shelters for animals. As we got through High School, she wanted us to go to college and made sure we did, with the help of Aunt Barbara. But empty nest hit her a bit hard, both physically and mentally. As Christine and Stephen moved along in life, she and dad had to adjust to living with each other alone with the pets. In 2001, dad retired and the decision was made to move to Florida. Mom resisted, she didn't like change, but Christine was in Florida, so the deal was done. Mom and Dad bought a beautiful house and entertained their kids whenever they could. The last few years were tough on Mom. She was diagnosed with dementia and as time went on had difficulty distinguishing between memory and reality. Dad has taken care of her better than anyone else could have, with the support of his children. Mom will be sorely missed by our family.