They would never have met, if they hadn't both been in the service and stationed at Camp Gordon, Georgia (now Fort Gordon), at the same time. She was from Missouri and he was from Long Island N.Y., a good distance from each other. But, when they met, a romance started that resulted in a happy marriage of over 50 years!
Mary Urso was born Mary Geneva White in Southern California in 1936 during the Great Depression. "Jobs were not to be had, at that time, and Mama and Daddy wandered all over trying to find work. I can remember back to when I was three years old and we went to live with my great-grandmother in a town called Marshall, Missouri. That woman had raised my Mama, too," said Urso.
It is strange what children remember from their childhood, those events that made an impression and remained in their memories. "We lived in a tiny little house and my Daddy drove a "Cat". He knocked over trees and one killed a mother squirrel, leaving six little babies. So Daddy put the baby squirrels in a little box and brought them home. Mama raised them, feeding them milk from one of my dolly baby bottles. As they grew up, those little rascals got into everything in the house. Finally, my Daddy took them outside and let them free. I was about four or five years old and I cried when the little squirrels left," recalled Urso.
At age 72, bright and alert, Mary Urso now lives at the Brian Center in Brevard. Sitting in the social area on her floor, she needed no introduction as her welcoming smile immediately identified her as the person waiting to be interviewed.
Her spirit shines through with Christian acceptance of her physical limitations. as Mary is handicapped and uses a walker. But she has a very optimistic outlook on life and is a joy to visit with. Sitting, side by side with her, surrounded by several people who were being served their lunches , she seemed in no hurry to be served her food. She eagerly started a friendly conversation, her brown eyes sparkling as she spoke.
Urso smiled as she related that she had cataract surgery on her one eye the past Friday, and she can see much better now because every thing is so much brighter. She apologized for interrupting our conversation while the aide administered her eye drops. Mary will have the other eye done soon and is looking forward to it, as she wants to be able to read and do her embroidery. Her spirit is strong and she is determined for her health to improve.
Urso is eager to talk about her life experiences and starts right in with her story. "I was born Mary Geneva White in Southern California in 1936 during the depression time. I can remember back to when I was three years old and my Daddy and Mama wandered all around seeking whatever jobs they could find; but jobs were hard to find So, although my dad was from California, we went to my mother's family in Marshall, Mo. to live. We stayed with my great-grandmother who had raised Mama," Mary recalled.
Urso had an aunt who had been in the U.S Army driving an ambulance during World War II. Mary was very impressed with that adventure; and, although she kept it a secret, her ambition always was to join the service, also. As soon as she was eighteen years old and of age, she did just that. She joined the service, just near the end of the Korean war.
"I went through all that eight weeks training, you know. I was crawling on the ground, getting into fox holes with bullets flying overhead, to end up as a Medical Technician, which is really a glorified nurse's aide. I was at Fort Houston in Texas and then at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. Then I went to Camp Gordon in Georgia," Urso reminisced.
Then came the coincidental meeting which was to change Mary's life, as her future husband was also based at camp Gordon,where he typed the records of who was present and who was AWOL, she related.
"The ward that I worked on faced the front door of the ward where he worked. It was the last of May, or early June, and I was at the back door taking a little break. It was oh, so hot. There was hardly any breeze. Down the road came this really green '49 Ford and stopped. So I really looked at the man who came out because I had never seen such a man like him before. He was about 5 ft. 3" or, maybe 5 ft. 4". I was used to men who were five foot ten or more - big men, you know; and I thought he was so cute
"I got to where I would always be at the back door when it was time for him to come up there. I didn't know him but I kept watching him. Then, one day a group came down from Washington, D.C. to check our barracks. They didn't want any one in the barracks when they went through I was working the night shift from 11:00 to 7:00 a.m. at the time. So, that day my best friend asked me if I would go on a blind date with her, her fiancé and his best friend. So, we went; and I didn't know it was going to be "HIM!". But, there he was, the one I had been watching," Mary smiled as she told of meeting her future husband.
Matters progressed a a rapid rate. "I said: 'How do you do? My name is Mary Geneva.' I didn't know what else to say. We went swimming on a picnic. I had to borrow a swim suit. I was a big girl at 5', 8" and measured 40-28-40. I was solid, but not fat at the time. I didn't know how to swim. but I could float so that's what I did. We then went out on a Friday and he said: 'Would you take a chance and marry me?' I took that chance and said: 'yes'. It was a good match. We both had a good sense of humor, were old fashioned Christians as we were both brought up in the faith, and we were married for 51 years, We had our ups and downs, like all married folks, but we made it," Urso reminisced.
Urso explained that she had signed up for a four year hitch, but when she became pregnant after their marriage, she was no longer able to stay in the service. They eventually had five children in all. The children were mostly named after family members, some of them relating to Urso's Italian heritage. In order, the children were: Giovanni for her husband's father, but they called John. Then, a daughter was born called Tina. Frank didn't want any of the children named after him, but Mary named the next son Thomas Frank, anyway. Then came daughter Judith Marie, followed by the last child, Wayne Peter. Mary explained that she and her husband were both great John Wayne fans and thus came the name Wayne.
After Mary and Frank left the service. they started moving all over the country. One of their homes was on Long Island, New York; where they opened a bakery shop. Frank was an Italian baker who was famous for the delicious bread he baked. He made cannolis, donuts, pastry, bagels, rye bread, White Mountain Rolls, and Tiger Rolls. He really worked hard, starting his ovens early in the morning to have his wares ready for sale when the store opened. "I helped him all I could. He baked and I cleaned up the mess after him. I was carrying my daughter Judy at the time," Urso recalled.
Their traveling ways continued as they moved to Cumberland, Virginia. They bought a long strip of land, five acres in size. "We cut our way through the trees, right up to the top of the hill. There, we pitched a tent while we were building our cinder block house. The kids loved living in the tent, as they thought we were camping. We lived like that for eight months while the house was being built.
"Frank got a job as a machinist. But when that job ended, he went to work for the Biggs furniture people, who built reproduction furniture The company had contracts with Monticello for building reproductions. However, the furniture was high price because it was all made out of mahogany. My husband was building Benjamin Franklin Roll Top Desks. We got one for ourselves and it had all kinds of secret places to put things. We never told the kids about the secret hiding places because that is where we kept our papers. Afterwards, we sold the cinder block house and started moving again from one place to another," Urso explained.
"We finally moved to South Carolina to the Greenville area. He became a tutor there for people who couldn't read or write. A young man came to him, asking him to help him because he had a job at the hospital and needed to be able to read. So, Frank taught him, right from the first grade and on up to the high school level. This worked out so well that he taught several men to read and write and they all became good friends. The State of South Carolina honored the high school students who he taught for their success; but they also honored Frank with a plaque as a master tutor for illiterate people," Urso explained with pride.
"Unfortunately, Frank died the year before last from heart trouble. At the end, he was in a wheel chair because he was passing out all the time. I was gaining weight and I was not in good health, myself. I was suffering from heart trouble and had to have open heart surgery. But, I developed a bad infection, because I was allergic to the surgical metal they used during the operation. I couldn't stand the surgical metal they used. They had to open me up again and take out all those copper wires and other metal, while removing part of both of my breasts," Urso explained.
I was in the hospital in Greenville at the time. However, they brought me to North Carolina to the Brian Center. The doctor told me I had to lose weight before they could operate, because I weighed 365 lbs. So I lost 100 lbs, and I said to the doctor: 'Now, can you operate?' and he said 'yes,' So, I went to Asheville to the doctor and he operated on me. But that wasn't the end of the problems, because then I got uterine cancer. Got that taken care of and got over that. But, there's no end to it. Now, I'm having trouble with the cartilage in both knees and they want to replace them. I'm not anxious to have more surgery. If I can get by with cortisone shots for the pain, instead of operations, I'm going to do that," Urso said with quiet determination.
Mary Urso loves music, according to Lorraine Mitchell, the Activities Director at the Brian Center. A group from the Brevard Music Center came over to entertain the patients at the Brain Center and Urso was so thrilled that she walked them to the door when they left, and said: "Thank you for bringing music back into my life." "So we took Mary Urso to the Porter Center to hear the music and arranged for her to go backstage to meet the musicians. It was one of Urso's moments of great joy," said Mitchell.
Urso is happy that her children are nearby, except for two of them. They come to see her and she seemed contented with her life. When asked about how she felt, she said: "I try to make the best of it, but now at 72 years of age, I just want to get along as best I can. I try to get as much out of each day as I can." Her strong faith and positive attitude have gone a long way in helping her to accept her illnesses and handicaps and keep up her good spirits.
