If you’re of a certain vintage and you grew up in Morgantown, there’s more than a good chance you knew Mary Hastings.
And not just because of the funeral home she founded with her husband, Dewey — an enterprise that is still in business today after 70 years.
Maybe she played Bridge with your mom or sang at your wedding.
Maybe you worked on a community outreach project (there were several) that she helped lead.
Maybe you saw her in action at the old Vincent Pallotti Hospital on Willey Street, where she did charity work and laughed along with everyone else at the antics of Father William, the staff priest who sported a Beatle wig as a disciple of John, Paul, George and Ringo.
The young patients also in the throes of Beatlemania got a real charge out of that.
Maybe you enjoyed sharing a table with her at Sons of Italy Lodge No. 14, where she and Dewey held court for years.
Then again, maybe you were one of the multitudes over the years who first met her at Hastings Funeral Home after you lost someone you love. Maybe she came up to you, put her hand on your arm — and said just the right thing.
Hastings died peacefully in her Morgantown home on Thursday, as her family gathered.
She was 95, and saw a lot of technological changes, both in the business she and Dewey chose to enter, and in the ways we mourn and express our condolences to those left after someone passes on.
That’s why, as of 1:15 p.m. Friday, there were 141 comments after the posting of her obituary on the Facebook page of Hastings Funeral Home/Omega Crematory.
There were 82 “caring heart” emojis and 14 shares.
And that’s because Mary Hastings was simply part of the proceedings for many area families, both as they worked through a loss, or simply enjoyed life in the amber of the moment.
More on what those who posted had to say — but first some comments on Hastings, who most definitely enjoyed her moments here on Earth.
She was born in Morgantown in 1926, and faithfully attended Mass at St. Mary Roman Catholic Church in Star City.
She turned her tassel at Morgantown High School and WVU, where she entered law school for a time before her marriage to Dewey, in 1949. He survives her, along with her sons and grandchildren.
Hastings also held memberships in the Alphi Sorority, Beta Iota Sorority and the Morgantown Service League, along with numerous organizations that went along with her aforementioned outreach work around town.
She was a noted vocalist, known for her soprano voice.
Today, Hastings Funeral Home will be part of her passage. Friends and family will be received from 2-5 today at the funeral home on 153 Spruce St.
She’ll lie in repose from 4-7 p.m. at St. Mary Roman Catholic Church, where a Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated by the Rev. John V. DiBacco at 11 a.m. Monday.
As said, her life was being celebrated in full measure Friday afternoon, by way of the funeral home’s Facebook page.
The funeral home over the years has embraced social media, peppering its page with fun asides on the Chicken Dance, while honoring the endurance of vinyl records.
It was Mary Hastings who was being honored on the page Friday.
“Beautiful in every way and treated all with worth,” contributed one, in the shorthand of the medium.
“She and my mother were in the same Bridge club for as far back as I can remember,” contributed another.
“Such a wonderful family.”
“She was so kind when my mom passed away.”
“She was a wonderful neighbor.”
Call all of the above the digital equivalent of Mary Hastings’ pat on the arm.
One person who contributed used the Facebook format to reach out to her own family, near and far.
“Let Grandma know,” the woman posted.
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