Mary Ellen (Venner) Lawless' Obituary
Mary Ellen (Venner) Lawless, 78, of North Syracuse passed away peacefully on September 5, 2024, at Iroquois Nursing Home following a short illness. A lifetime resident of the Syracuse area, she was a graduate of St. Vincent de Paul High School and Onondaga Community College. Mary Ellen earned her registered nurse AAS from Upstate Medical Center School of Nursing.
She worked as a nurse in the Upstate orthopedics and neurosurgical intensive care but spent most of her early years in the emergency rooms of Upstate. Later she did private duty nursing and worked as a staff nurse for several local doctors’ offices. Mary Ellen retired as the school nurse at Jamesville Elementary School in Jamesville.
Her cheery personality, sense of humor and kind and empathetic nature made her not only the perfect nurse but a wonderful wife, mother, grandmother (nana) and friend to all. People said they never heard her make a mean or disparaging comment about anybody. She was very proud of her Irish heritage and the claddagh and a crucifix were the only jewelry she wore consistently.
Mary Ellen was an accomplished baker known for her brownies, chocolate chip and half-moon cookies and anything having to do with apples. Deeply religious, she was a communicant of St. Rose of Lima of North Syracuse in the winter and Divine Mercy in Brewerton in the summer when she lived at her Lakehouse in Constantia.
Mary Ellen was predeceased by her parents, Robert and Helen (Kennedy) Venner, and granddaughter, Megan Tollar.
She is survived by her husband of 52 years, Donald J. Lawless; a brother, Robert (Carol) Venner of Syracuse; four children: Elizabeth A. (James) Tollar of Jamesville, Donald R. (Cassie) Lawless of Jackson, WY, Colleen M. (Jason) Wolfe of Centerville, MD and Patrick M. (Paige) Lawless of Lake Stevens, WA; six grandchildren: Emily and Brian Tollar, Owen and Abbott Lawless, Matthew and Jillian Wolfe, numerous nieces, nephews and cousins, and a seventh grandchild due in November.
A funeral Mass in celebration of Mary Ellen’s life will be held on Tuesday, September 10, 2024, at 10:00 A.M. in St. Rose of Lima Church, 409 S. Main St. North Syracuse, with burial to follow in Onondaga County Veterans Memorial Cemetery. Visitation will take place on Monday, September 9, 2024, from 4:00 – 7:00 P.M. at the THOMAS J. PIRRO JR. FUNERAL HOME 3401 Vickery Rd. (Corner of Buckley Rd.) N. Syracuse, NY.
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