Mary Nussdorfer Hennessy, aged 99 and affectionately known as “Mema” by all who knew her, died in her home in Fort Washington, PA, on October 24, 2024 of natural causes.
Her early years were spent in Avon Lake, Ohio, on a fruit farm cultivated by her father and uncle during the Great Depression. She left the farm at age 14 to attend Northfield Seminary for Young Ladies (now Northfield Mount Hermon School) in Northfield, MA, upon receiving a scholarship there. After graduating in 1942, she attended the University of North Carolina, later transferring to Antioch College where she earned a B.A. in Journalism.
Following College, Mema began her career as a newspaper writer and photographer, first with the Woodland Daily Democrat in Woodland, California, prior to joining The Reader’s Digest in Chappaqua, New York, where she worked for many years.
Upon returning to the US, Mema launched herself on a new project—writing a book on her son-in-law’s great grandfather, Civil War hero Henry Washington Sawyer. She spent 10 years researching the US Civil War and eventually published her book, “His Hour Upon the Stage: the Story of a Civil War Horse Soldier and the Woman who Fought to Save his Life.”
In 2001 Mema moved to Fort Washington, PA to be near her daughter’s family and began teaching English to non-native speakers at the Fort Washington library.
She is survived by her two children, Murray Hennessy and Elizabeth Hennessy Sawyer; by daughter-in-law, Jean, and son-in-law, Jonathan; by her six grandchildren, Matthew, Tyler, Gideon, Ben, Anna and Layla.
Date of Death: October 24, 2024