Mary Margaret Burke (1890-1949)

Mary Margaret Burke (1890-1949) aka May Burke; School Teacher in Jersey City, New Jersey; and later Housewife (b. September 07, 1890, 29 Atlantic Avenue, Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey, 07304-2301, USA, d. September 12, 1949, 7:20 am, Jersey City Medical Center, 50 Baldwin Avenue, Jersey City, New Jersey, 07304, USA)

Parents
Mary Burke had no full siblings.
 * John Joseph Burke I (1868-1939)
 * Nora Finn (1866-1898)

Death of mother
Her mother died of pneumonia when she was 8 years old.

Raised by her aunt
Mary was raised by her mother’s sister: Catherine Elizabeth Finn (1873-1918) aka Kate Finn. Catherine worked as an executive secretary at the American Lead Pencil Company in Hoboken, New Jersey. Katherine and Mary were relatively well off financially, Kate owned a piano, and her house was decorated with crystal and at least one oil painting. They also owned a sterling silver tea set. Her father, John Burke remarried around 1900 and started a second family.

Schoolteacher
Mary became a school teacher in Jersey City after attending the Teacher's College

Marriage
She met Thomas Patrick Norton I (1891-1968) who's sister was a school teacher at the same school. Mary and Tom married on September 27, 1919 at Saint John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church in Jersey City, New Jersey. Tom was the son of Patrick J. Norton (1856-1905) and Sarah Jane Carr (1866-1950). When Mary married she was required to leave teaching. Teaching was only allowed for single women.

Children
Mary and Thomas had the following children:
 * Thomas Patrick Norton II (1920- )
 * Vincent Gerard Norton (1923-2005)
 * John Burke Norton (1927) who died after a few months and the family suspected that he was stuck with a diaper pin at the hospital and developed septicemia
 * James Joseph Norton II (1929- )
 * Catherine Finn Norton (1930-1934) who died after exactly 4 years and never fully developed physically, possibly from from an inherited metabolic disorder.

Devout Catholic
In 1942 Mary's son Thomas got married but she refused to attend the wedding because he was marrying a Protestant and her and her family was Catholic.

Death
In 1949 Selma, her daughter-in-law, stopped by 603 Garfield Avenue in Jersey City to say hello and found her on the couch in pain. Mary’s husband hadn't called the doctor and this was her second day in pain. Selma called the doctor from someone else's apartment, since Tom didn't have a telephone. Mary lived another day, but died at the hospital. She told Selma at the hospital before she died: "you saved my life".

Burial
Mary was buried in Holy Name Cemetery, in Jersey City, New Jersey in a plot that belongs to her mother's family.

Obituary
Her obituary was published in the Jersey Journal on September 13, 1949 and reads as follows: Norton - Of 603 Garfield Avenue, on Monday, September 12, 1949, Mary Norton (nee Burke), beloved wife of Thomas P. Norton Sr., devoted mother of Thomas P. Jr., Vincent G. and James Norton. Relatives and friends are invited to attend the funeral on Thursday, September 15th at 9 a.m. from The Funeral Home of Richmond F. Routh, 206 Old Bergen Road. Solemn mass of requiem at Sacred Heart R.C. Church at 10 a.m. Interment Holy Name Cemetery.