Mary Ann Corso. Born July 3, 1934, Mary grew up in Cleveland and Lakewood, Ohio, as the only daughter of Mary and Michael Papcum (both deceased), along with seven brothers. Mary was the 5th born of the 8 children, and the last surviving sibling.
Mary graduated from West High School in Cleveland in 1952. She worked as a telephone operator right out of high school, and had various office jobs after that. Mary married Joe Corso (deceased, 2016) in May, 1964, and they had three children – Karen, Joe Jr. and Jennifer. Mary worked as a real estate agent for about 25 years, delaying her retirement until after she helped all three of her children buy their first homes.
Mary was an avid gardener, making sure that flowers she took from her mother’s garden in Lakewood were transplanted to each of her homes in Bay Village and Rocky River. She enjoyed garden shops and plant sales, taking her granddaughters to the Botanical Gardens, and was happiest when digging in her garden or planting and re-planting flowers in her patio containers. Mary also loved her houseplants, rescuing withering plants and bringing them back to life, or secretly “borrowing” cuttings from others’ plants. Mary was an ardent reader, and took copious notes of whatever she was reading. She organized the book sale room for several years at Rocky River Unitarian Church’s annual rummage sale. Mary enjoyed keeping up with current events and politics, having her radio tuned to NPR throughout the day and watching PBS news and shows. Mary also spent many years volunteering at the election booths on election day.
In their later years, Mary and Joe enjoyed traveling with the Rocky River Senior Center on senior trips, going to several places along the East Coast and to Canada. Mary and Joe spent many hours and weekend trips exploring both families’ genealogy, tracing ancestors back through church records and libraries, in the days of microfiche and paper files. At the age of 83, Mary got her first passport and took her first trip to Europe, traveling to France with her daughter, Jennifer, and taking a Viking River Cruise on the Rhone River.
Mary passed away peacefully on February 28, 2025. Mary will be interred at Lakewood Park Cemetery in Rocky River, Ohio, with her husband, Joe.
Mary was the beloved wife of the late Joseph J. Sr.; mother of Karen M. Frischauf (Robert), Joseph J. Jr. (Karen A., deceased) and Jennifer A. Corso; grandmother of Megan Corso Ward (Kyle) and Emily Corso Richardson (Sam) and Ari Frischauf; sister of Michael, Martin, Andrew, Paul, Peter, Joseph and Geoge (all deceased), and sister-in-law to their wives. Aunt and great aunt to many. Private interment at Lakewood Park Cemetery. In lieu of flowers the family requests donations to Planned Parenthood Cleveland or the Cleveland Botanical Gardens.
The family will receive friends and family at Behind the Woods, 21919 Center Ridge Road, Rocky River, OH, from 12:00 to 4:00 on Saturday, March 15, 2025. Memorial luncheon will be served at 1:00.