Mary Martha (Standley) Zinkand, age 92, passed away on Thursday, February 27, 2002. “Lord, you have now set your servant free to go in peace as you have promised.”
Mary was born September 12, 1927 in Wichita, KS to Jesse and Bertha (Taylor) Standley. She was the youngest of 8 children, and grew up on farms in Kansas and upstate New York. She met her husband, John, on her 19th birthday and they married August 26, 1949.
Mary started her studies in a one-room schoolhouse near Richland, KS. She went on to graduate from Temple University with a BA in History. Wherever her husband’s studies and work took them, she made it her home, including Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Sioux Center (Iowa), Cambridge (England), and Holland (Michigan). She returned to upstate New York for her final years. In the mid-1980s, she and her husband spent 5 years in Nigeria with Christian Reformed World Missions and made many dear friends there.
She was first and foremost an amazing mother to her five children. She was a strong, smart woman who was involved in a wide variety of creative endeavors. In the early 1970s she trained as an Emergency Medical Technician in Sioux Center, Iowa and then traveled the rural Midwest training other EMTs. She worked at KDCR radio station reading books on the air.
Her first sewing project was her wedding dress, which turned out amazingly well -- she loved sewing! She also loved quilting. She baked her own bread before it was fashionable. She loved books, genealogy and American history, and could not drive by an historical marker without stopping to read it. She was able to trace her ancestry on her mother’s side back to a patriot of the American Revolution.
Mary was devoted to her children and grandchildren, and her great-grandchildren were a particular delight at the end. She had a generous spirit and took many people under her wing.
Mary's family wishes to give a special thank you to the staff of St. John’s Home, Lifetime Care Hospice, and Dr. Heather Sobel.
She was preceded in death by her parents, 5 brothers, 2 sisters, her beloved daughter, Jeanie, and the love of her life and husband of 65 years, John. She is survived by her children, Laurie Zinkand-Selles (John Selles) of Toronto, ON; Daniel Zinkand (Elizabeth) of Salem, OR; Heidi Zinkand (David Dill) of Rochester, NY; Kathy Kaporis (Christopher) of Chicago, IL; her son-in-law, Jack deKlerk of Toronto, ON; her grandchildren, Natalie Cunningham (John) of Chelmsford, England; Jesse Selles (Michelle Hart) of Vancouver, BC; Joshua Dill (Sally) of Cheverly, MD; Sara Dill of Denver, CO; Katie deKlerk of Toronto, ON; Charles and William Kaporis of Chicago, IL; and two great grandchildren, Layla Cunningham and Nicholas Dill. She is survived by many nieces and nephews and their families, in particular niece Sandy Kochanowicz and nephew Robert Webb.
Friends may meet with the family at the funeral home on Monday, March 2nd from 4-7 PM. A Funeral Service will be held Tuesday, March 3rd, 11 AM at Rochester Christian Reformed Church, 2750 Atlantic Ave, Penfield, NY. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Wings of Mercy (www.wingsofmercy.org) or The Deacons’ Fund of the Rochester Christian Reformed Church.
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