The One, The Only, The Fabulous, Mary Jo Clardy
Please feel free to post pictures of your favorite memories of our beloved Mary Jo.
LifeQs
Mary Jo Clardy
Answer one question or many - using words, photos or other media.
Lori Clardy
I will miss being able to reach for the phone and call her for advice and guidance.
- (1)
- Reply
Matt Richards
I will miss her joyful presence. She always had a smile for everyone.
I will also miss making her drinks.
I will also miss making her drinks.
- (1)
- Reply
Lori Clardy
This is a picture of the last page of the cookbook that Mary Jo made for me and her granddaughters. We have cherished this gift for years. Nevertheless, it seems so much more precious now. As I read through the recipes and the pages, I feel her spirit near me.
I love you and I miss you so much Mom.
I love you and I miss you so much Mom.
- (1)
- Reply
Lori Clardy
You lived an amazing life with all kinds of adventures. You added so much joy to the people around you. We will miss you terribly, but we are all better off having been a part of your life.
Nicole Nash
I love Grandpa's fanny pack! I bet he has a toothpick and a wadded up paper towel in there! Grandma is just as classy as always! I love them!
Lori Clardy
They loved each other so much. I'm sure you're right. If we zoomed in we would likely see a toothpick in grandpa's mouth and a paper towel in his pocket.
Matt Richards
Thank you for being a second Mom to me and accepting me as apart of your family so readily.
We miss you.
We miss you.
Nicole Nash
Grandma, you were the most amazing role model I could have ever asked for. You were such a wonderful grandmother. You spent quality time with me and always found a way to make things educational. You were always up to date and genuinely interested in everything that was going on in my life. You were always happy to see me and always had time for me. You were perfect to me! You never let me down, never hurt my feelings, never got upset with me, never judged me. I don't have a single bad memory of you. I want you to know how much I love you! I want you to know how important you are to me! I want you to know how much you are missed! I look forward to seeing you when it's my turn to go. I know you'll show me around and make me feel at home just like you always do!
Lori Clardy
Mary Jo was a perfectionist and planned absolutely everything with careful accuracy. Also, she was constantly fussing about her frequent guests making sure that they had everything they needed and that they were comfortable.
Here are a few of her unique phrases that she used:
"I've cut the banana half in two so that you can have some too."
"Would you like a plumb? If you said no, she would ask you again in a few minutes. "Would you like a plumb?" Finally you would take the plumb just to make her happy:-)
"The milk is in the fridge". Mary Jo's grandchildren loved to tease her about that one.
Here are a few of her unique phrases that she used:
"I've cut the banana half in two so that you can have some too."
"Would you like a plumb? If you said no, she would ask you again in a few minutes. "Would you like a plumb?" Finally you would take the plumb just to make her happy:-)
"The milk is in the fridge". Mary Jo's grandchildren loved to tease her about that one.
Nicole Nash
It's actually "Milk's in the fridge, Hun." Without her breakfast time guidance I may not have known where to start looking!
Nicole Nash
My beautiful grandmother Mary Jo was a very vibrant and animated person! She had countless quirky mannerisms. Some that come to mind are listed below:
---She was overly articulate. She always pronounced the "h" in words like "white", and when she said "orange" it sounded like "ah-ringe".
---She would use her fingernails to tap an object she was talking to you about, usually a bowl or a tupperware dish full of food she had made for you.
---She always showed you to your bedroom if you were going to stay the night. It didn't matter that you had been to her house billions of times and knew the floor plan by heart. She would still escort you to the rooms and tell you that there were fresh sheets on the bed.
---She always offered a stick of big red chewing gum and a kleenex if you rode in the car with her. She would shoot her arm out in front of you if she had to brake hard, and she would give you whiplash while backing out of any parking spot. She also kept gloves in the glove box!
---If she disagreed with you she would say something like "I did not either" or "You will not either" while keeping her eyes closed for an unusual amount of time.
---When she called your name from another room she would sing it in a higher than normal pitch with a vibrato. She used the same sing-song voice when answering the phone.
---When she used your name while in the same room it was usually after rattling off a list of other relatives first. Lori-Nicole may just as well have been my birth name.
---She was a compulsive planner and would often be found with a manilla folder filled with printed mapquest directions.
---She did not ever leave the house without her red lipstick and Georgio Beverly Hills perfume.
---She rarely used the correct gender when talking about her pets.
---She always had a stack of recycled printer papers, cut in half and stapled together to form a notepad, by the phone.
---Whenever you left her house she would follow you outside and wave to you until your car pulled out of view.
---She was overly articulate. She always pronounced the "h" in words like "white", and when she said "orange" it sounded like "ah-ringe".
---She would use her fingernails to tap an object she was talking to you about, usually a bowl or a tupperware dish full of food she had made for you.
---She always showed you to your bedroom if you were going to stay the night. It didn't matter that you had been to her house billions of times and knew the floor plan by heart. She would still escort you to the rooms and tell you that there were fresh sheets on the bed.
---She always offered a stick of big red chewing gum and a kleenex if you rode in the car with her. She would shoot her arm out in front of you if she had to brake hard, and she would give you whiplash while backing out of any parking spot. She also kept gloves in the glove box!
---If she disagreed with you she would say something like "I did not either" or "You will not either" while keeping her eyes closed for an unusual amount of time.
---When she called your name from another room she would sing it in a higher than normal pitch with a vibrato. She used the same sing-song voice when answering the phone.
---When she used your name while in the same room it was usually after rattling off a list of other relatives first. Lori-Nicole may just as well have been my birth name.
---She was a compulsive planner and would often be found with a manilla folder filled with printed mapquest directions.
---She did not ever leave the house without her red lipstick and Georgio Beverly Hills perfume.
---She rarely used the correct gender when talking about her pets.
---She always had a stack of recycled printer papers, cut in half and stapled together to form a notepad, by the phone.
---Whenever you left her house she would follow you outside and wave to you until your car pulled out of view.
Matt Richards
When I first met Mary Jo it was for lunch and she ordered a rum and coke. The waiter brought her drink and she immediately stopped him. He is scrambling to ask what is wrong with the drink,
"Nothing is wrong, I want another one just like it in 15 minutes!"
"Nothing is wrong, I want another one just like it in 15 minutes!"
Matt Richards
It was fun playing Scattagories and coming up with things that might offend her. She played along and was always dignified no matter how outrageous we tried to be.
Lori Clardy
Above all else, Mary Jo loved her family. She was the glue that kept our extended family in touch. She was the youngest of seven children and adored her sisters, her brothers and their children. We will always remember the love she gave.
Nicole Nash
Mary Jo loved her family, her dogs, rum and coke, hosting parties, planning events, making greeting cards, playing bridge, crosswords and word jumbles, reading the morning paper, and sitting on her back porch under the misters.
Lori Clardy
Mary Jo loved her dogs and her grandchildren. They brought her so much joy and happiness.
Nicole Nash
I cherish every memory of my Grandmother but my wedding is the brightest of all. When I told her I wanted to have the wedding at her house she tried to get me to reconsider. She even offered to pay for an alternate venue. She couldn't just tell me no, because that's the kind of Grandmother she was. At the time I was very young and didn't realize how much work is involved in hosting an event in your home. I insisted that it had to be at her home in Apache Junction. Her house was always one of my favorite places in the world, so it was a no-brainer for my wedding. After she saw how important it was to me, she kicked her party planning skills into gear and made sure my wedding was perfect! I got to marry my wonderful husband in my favorite place, and she let me wear her pearls. A few months after the wedding she sent me a photo album full of wedding pictures and little summaries of what was happening on each page. It is one of my most valuable treasures. After she died, I was looking through my wonderful wedding album and noticed her in the background of several pictures. She was delegating authority, running the show from behind the scenes. She had certain mannerisms and body language when she was directing others. Everyone knows she would pull out all the stops to make things perfect, and she wasn't afraid to put people to work to make it happen. I have pictures of her in action, in the album she made for me, of the wedding she hosted for me! I am so lucky she was my Grandma, she was the greatest woman I've ever known! The world is a dimmer place without her, she was truly remarkable!
Lori Clardy
Mary Jo was a loving soul who always had a way to make people, even strangers, feel right at home. Her quick smile and generous hospitality made her countless lifelong friends from all over the world.
