Mary Alice (O’Gorman) Staples, age 96, passed away on October 25, 2022. Mary Alice was born in Saginaw, Michigan on May 3,1926, moving to Grand Rapids as a young child with her parents, Charles and Agnes (Kelly) O’Gorman. They made their home in East Grand Rapids where she attended St. Stephen Catholic School through the eighth grade. She graduated from East Grand Rapids High School (with her husband, Henry) in 1944 and later from Maryland College for Women in Luther, Maryland. Mary Alice was an active community volunteer with friends in the Junior League of Grand Rapids, St. John’s Home Guild, the Tuesday Group, Women’s City Club, as well as a member of her choir at St. Paul the Apostle Parish. She loved music, dancing, the theater and sharing her talent as a vocalist with her community for many years. She and Henry loved to travel in addition to spending their winters in Coronado Island, California, and summers at the Macatawa Bay Yacht Club and their cottage in Macatawa Park on Lake Michigan. Proud of her Irish heritage, St. Patrick’s Day was her favorite holiday! She was predeceased by her husband of 57 years, Henry Lord Staples, Jr. in 2008. Mary Alice is survived by her daughter, Lucinda (William) McCall and her son, Michael (Sarah) Staples; her grandchildren, Megan (Derek) Schmitt, Kathleen (Andrew) Mezwicki, John (Alexandra) McCall, Kathryn (Shaun) Boyles, Phillip Staples, Hannah (Matthew) Champion; her great-grandchildren, Lucy, Henry, Caroline and Patrick Schmitt, Amelia, Mary Claire and Banks Mezwicki, Natalie, Ryan and Christina McCall. Special thanks to Jodi Compton, Mary Alice’s dear friend and the Clark Home community for their special care. Mass of Christian burial will be at 12:00 PM, Thursday, November 3, 2022, at St. Paul the Apostle Church, 2750 Burton St. S.E. with Fr. Peter Damian presiding. Visitation will occur one hour before the funeral Mass. Interment at Oakhurst Cemetery, Whitehall, Michigan. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St. John’s Home, 805 Leonard St NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49503, or the St. Paul the Apostle School Foundation.
