Mary C. Scheeder, 95, passed away on Wednesday, February 22, 2023, at Highland Park Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Wellsville. She was born June 22, 1927 in Buffalo, the daughter of the late Ernst W. and Charlotte (Dunnigan) Scheeder.
When Mary was a senior at East High School in Buffalo, she and other classmates were recruited to be fingerprint classifiers for the FBI in Washington, DC; because of the draft during WW II, there was a manpower shortage and the Bureau recruited young women replacements who did not require extensive character background investigations.
Mary began her three-year employment with FBI two weeks after her high school graduation in 1945. While in DC she earned a BS in Education from the former Wilson Teachers College and an MA in Education from American University. Following a year of teaching at Washington’s McFarland Junior High School. Mary returned to the Buffalo area, and taught at the Hamburg Junior High School, and later at Andover Central School. She then earned a master’s degree in Library Science from SUNY Geneseo and served as elementary school librarian at the Orchard Park School System for seven years, followed by ten years as the Allegany County BOCES librarian in Belmont. During her time with BOCES, she earned certification as a school administrator, with course work at Syracuse University and St. Bonaventure University.
Mary was later employed as a foster care case worker for the Allegany County Department of Social Services for two years. She retired to her mother’s homestead in Scio in 1967. She was a member and trustee of Holy Family Catholic Church in Belmont and a sacristan for St. Joseph’s Oratory in Scio. Mary received an award from Holy Family Parish for her many years of dedicated service to both parishes.
She is survived by a nephew, E. Clark Scheeder and his wife Stacey of Sherrills Ford, NC, two nieces, Elizabeth Golze of The Woodlands, TX, and Jennifer Hendricks of Pembroke Pines, FL, a great niece, Carlyn Scheeder, and a great nephew, Maxton Scheeder, and a sister-in-law, Mary H. Scheeder of Williamsville. She was predeceased in addition to her parents by a brother, Ernst W. Scheeder Jr.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Friday, March 17, 2023, at 12 Noon at St. Joseph’s Oratory in Scio. Burial will be in St. Joseph’s Cemetery. Please consider memorial donations to Holy Family Church, 5 Milton Street, Belmont, NY 14813. To leave online condolences, please visit embserfuneralhome.com.
