AGAWAM – Mary L. (Bent) Conley, 74, died suddenly Tuesday, December 31, 2013 in Deerfield, MA during a hiking trip. Mary, the daughter of the late Joseph John and Catherine Anna (Salisbury) Bent, was born in Boston, MA.She graduated from Walpole High School in Walpole, MA and was a communicant of St. John the Evangelist Church in Agawam. Mary was employed as a bookkeeper for a total of thirty-five years. Since retiring in 1999, she was a volunteer at Noble Hospital and Saint Mary’s Church in Westfield, MA and at St. John the Evangelist Church. In 1985 Mary and her husband David fulfilled her dream of visiting Bryce National Park in Utah which she had seen images of in a View Master when she was a small child. They went in the subsequent years to explore most of the western National Parks and in very interesting state parks. In recent years, Mary had been active in the Berkshire Chapter of the Appalachian Mountain Club, especially with the beloved Tuesday Hikers. She was also a member of the Friends of Robinson State Park in Agawam. Many of her favorite moments were when she was cooking and baking for others and tending to her flower gardens. Mary was fortunate to have shared continuous close friendships for over sixty years with several of her Walpole schoolmates.
She leaves her beloved husband of sixty years, David Charles Conley; her dear son, David William Conley and his wife Teresa Ann Conley of Columbia, SC; her precious daughter, Elizabeth Anne Parker and her husband Charles Noble Parker of Los Angeles, CA; her revered sister, Joan Ann MacGray of Largo, FL, and her cherished sister, Katherine Linda Beyer and her partner, Peter Mignone of Newport, VT. She also leaves many beloved cousins, nephews and nieces. In addition to her parents, she was predeceased by a brother, Joseph John Bent, Jr. who had resided in Nobleboro, ME.
Mary’s Funeral Mass will be Thursday, January 9, 2014 at 11:00 a.m. at St. John the Evangelist Church, 833 Main Street, Agawam. The burial will be in the spring at St. Mary’s Cemetery in Amsterdam, NY. Family and friends may gather at Agawam Funeral Home, 184 Main Street prior to the Mass from 9:00-10:30 a.m.
In lieu of flowers, any memorial donations may be made to The National Shrine of the Divine Mercy Eden Hill, Stockbridge, MA 01262 or to the charity of one’s choice. For more details on the Shrine of Divine Mercy visit www.marian.org/shrine
