Mercedes Rosemary Carmella Parente Guenther died in her home on April 19, 2024, 5 days shy of her 95th birthday. Mercedes was one of 4 children of Rose Salvatore and Frank Parente of Italy. Mercedes spent much of her life in Yonkers, where she raised her son Mark, and worked proudly for 24 years at the Westchester County Department of Transportation. When she retired in 1992, she stayed in Yonkers caretaking her mother, Rose. Upon Rose’s passing in 2000, she sold the family home in Yonkers and moved to New Paltz. Â
Mercedes was so proud of her home in the Village of New Paltz. Having grown up and lived for many years in Yonkers, she never learned to drive but was an expert in public transportation. In New Paltz Mercedes could and did walk everywhere. She made friends with her neighbors and was the official yenta of the neighborhood. Mercedes was a regular patron at the Plaza Diner, where she loved gossiping with the staff. When she went grocery shopping at ShopRite, the staff all knew her by name. She enjoyed many happy years of retirement listening to opera, watching her soaps, and later in life, spending time with her much beloved cats.
Mercedes had one child, Mark Guenther, who predeceased her in April 2023. She is survived by her daughter-in-law, Laurie Willow, who took loving care of her in the last years of her life, by her two grandchildren, Jillian Steelberg (Tierney Steelberg) and Sara Guenther, by one sister, Dolores Livoti and 11 nieces and nephews, as well as great-nieces and-nephews whom she loved very much.
There will be a graveside interment and memorial at 11 AM on Saturday, May 25, at New Paltz Cemetery on Plains Road, followed by lunch in celebration of her life. For more information, contact Laurie Willow at 845 235 7511.
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