Mary Gloria Landrum's Obituary
Mary Gloria Landrum passed away peacefully of natural causes at her home in San Bruno on the morning of December 14th at the age of 96 with son Patrick, caregivers and close friends Alicia and Maritza and nurse Samantha by her side. Son Jeffrey arrived from Washington that afternoon and was able to partake in the last rights given by a close family friend and priest Anna. Mary was surrounded by love.
The only child of Julius and Carmen Castelan, Mary was born July 12, 1927 in Lynbrook, NY. During her childhood, the family lived in Douglas, AZ, Los Angeles, and San Francisco before settling in their Daly City family home in 1937. Here Mary attended Crocker Elementary School where she met lifelong friend Frances. Together the girls went on to graduate from Jefferson High School. After school, Mary worked for Bank of America. She was married and living in San Francisco when son Ronald was born in 1949. After the marriage ended, her parents cared for Ronald while Mary worked to help support the family.
During this time, Mary enjoyed a happy social life. She loved dancing with friends Rosita and Vi. Mary also met Joe and Rose who introduced her to their friend Emmett at their San Lorenzo home in 1954. Joe and Emmett had served together in the Navy during WWII. At this time, Emmett was living in New York and working for United Airlines at LaGuardia Airport. After his return to New York, he and Mary exchanged letters until he visited on a 6-day leave the following year. Mary recorded the events of that week in her diary, “We went out and he could not go on any flights back so we decided to get married.” They were married at the Washoe County Courthouse in Reno, Nevada on June 19, 1955 with Ronald, Carmen, Julius and Joe and his family. After their wedding Emmett went back to New York and Mary soon followed, leaving Ronald in her parents’ care. Mary and Emmett returned to Ronald and into an apartment in South San Francisco after a cross country drive together and a transfer to UAL at SFO in late spring of 1956, while Mary was pregnant. On their first anniversary, son Jeffrey was born with Joe and Vi becoming his godparents. In 1957 Mary and Emmett purchased their brand-new home in San Bruno. Shortly after moving into their home Ronald developed spinal meningitis which triggered diabetes. He was challenged with diabetic related complications until his 1998 passing. Son Patrick was born in 1963.
Over the years, Mary helped support the family by working as a keypunch operator. At home, she crocheted and sewed beautiful clothing and home decor. She volunteered for San Mateo County elections for over 30 years. She and Emmett also loved and cared for a series of family dogs.
While raising their family, Mary and Emmett vacationed in the Eastern US where the boys were educated on US history with visits to Washington DC, presidents’ homes, Civil War battle sites and aircraft museums. They enjoyed the outdoors at Lake Tahoe and Shasta Lake. At Shasta Lake, they visited family friends in the early 70s and fell in love with the lake and subsequently boating. Here Mary and family had vacations for many years, especially after keeping a series of boats on the lake year-round. All the boats were named “Mary G.” (I, II, III and IV).
Mary also joined Emmett in all things aviation and Navy: including air shows, military reunions and volunteering at Oakland’s Aviation Museum. This museum was a big part of Mary and Emmett’s lives with their 50th anniversary and their son Patrick’s SJSU graduation parties being held there. After Jeffrey moved to Connecticut with his wife Bobbi in 1998, Mary would enjoy time with them and Bobbi’s Grandchildren Josh and Jessica while Emmett was volunteering on the USS Slater in Albany, New York for a week in May each year. Over their lifetime together, Mary and Emmett saw much of the US and the world including Canada, Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Germany, Greece, China, Australia, Tahiti and Bali.
For their happy 63-year marriage, Mary loved and cared for husband Emmett who passed away in 2018. She was a kind and loving mother to her boys. Throughout her life, Mary nurtured extended family and friends including Anna - who came from Arizona to study at Stanford and never moved back, Mavy - who fed Mary’s parents well at her Daly City restaurant, Alicia - who had cared for Mary’s father Julius late in his life and Rudis, Alicia’s husband, who made significant family event meals along with Mavy. In turn, Alicia cared for Mary after Emmett’s passing. Mary was godmother to Margaret who was there for her when needed.
Mary is survived by her sons Jeffrey and Patrick, daughter-in-law Bobbi, one step granddaughter, three step great-grandchildren, five step great-great-grandchildren and several generations of Castelan relatives.
Services are being held at Skylawn Memorial Park on Friday, January 12 at 10:00 am. Please see the service information tab below:
https://www.skylawnmemorialpark.com/upcoming-services/
Skylawn Funeral Home, Memorial Park & Crematory, CA-35 at Highway 92, San Mateo, CA 94402
In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in Mary’s memory to an organization she supported:
• Peninsula Humane Society: 1450 Rollins Road, Burlingame, CA 94010 (650-340-7022)
• Meals on Wheels: 1375 Fairfax Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94124 (415-920-1111)
• St. Anthony’s Foundation: 150 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102 (415-241-2600)
What’s your fondest memory of Mary?
What’s a lesson you learned from Mary?
Share a story where Mary's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Mary you’ll never forget.
How did Mary make you smile?
