Mason-2014-Winter-Rnd1

Masonic Care Community
kathy contino-turner,
Director of Communications and Marketing
Masonic Care Commiunity
continoturnerk@mccny.com
Love at Wiley Hall
Those of us who work at the Masonic Care Community do
a lot of talking about the benefits of living on this beautiful
campus. Our residents enjoy activities and the friendship of
their peers. We have many who live here alone after the death
of a spouse. What you might not realize is that those who live
here sometimes find love and companionship again. And that
is what happened to Mary Robinson and William Abbe.
Mary Robinson and her late husband Merle, a member of
the Western Star Lodge in Attica, moved to the Masonic Care
Community from Batavia, NY. They made their home at
Wiley Hall until Merle’s health necessitated his moving to the
Master Mason Wing of the Health Pavilion. Merle passed in
2012, leaving his wife of sixty-three years on her own.
In 2002 Josephine Abbe, who was active in Eastern Star and
lived with her husband William in Westmoreland, came to the
Health Pavilion. William visited almost every day and in 2010
lost his wife of sixty-nine years. William, who is a Past Master
of the Clinton-Westmoreland Lodge 347 and an Eastern
Star Patron, decided to come to Wiley Hall in November of
2013. A Mason for seventy years, William was looking for
companionship and found Mary.
Mary says it all started when Bill was seated at her table in
the Wiley Dining Room. She says he was a bit of a flirt. Then
she noticed that when they went on bus trips Bill would save
her a seat on the bus. Finally. in February of 2013, Bill invited
Mary to join him at his birthday party, where she would meet
a majority of his family. He finally asked her to marry him this
past summer and Mary said yes. On October 4 the 97-yearold
William and the 86-year-old Mary were married in the
Daniel D. Tompkins Memorial Chapel.
The bride was walked down the aisle by her son Frank
and her daughter Sandra Norton, who also served as Mary’s
Matron of Honor. The groom’s best man was his son Edwin
Abbe. Mary has three children, seven grandchildren and four
great-grandchildren. Two of her granddaughters sang “The
Wedding Song.” William has four children, six grandchildren
and eight great-grandchildren. Both families were excited
about the union.
In addition to their blood relatives, the couple invited
all their other “family” to the nuptials—their Wiley Hall
neighbors. Our Wiley Hall receptionist Cheryl Welch, who
has a lovely voice, sang “I Love You Truly,” accompanied by
our own Carleton Boone. A wedding reception was held in the
Wiley Hall Dining Room that afternoon.
The wedding was a family affair: Mary’s family, William’s
family and their family of friends from Wiley Hall and the
Masonic Care Community. Mr. and Mrs. William and Mary
Abbe found companionship and love at Wiley Hall. They look
forward to many happy times ahead. We wish them all the
best. s
THE EMPIRE STATE MASON MAGAZINE WINTER 2014 19