Mary Marocco was born in 1931 in Brooklyn, New York. When she was a toddler, her parents took seasonal jobs sewing pockets at a Paterson clothing factory that was owned by her mother’s cousin. Mary attended preschool and elementary school in Paterson.
When Mary was around ten years old, her mother scrounged together enough money to move their family to Fair Lawn, NJ, where they eventually bought their own house. Although Mary’s parents still worked as laborers in the factory and faced many periods of unemployment, they now lived among the factory owners in the suburbs. On weekends, Mary socialized with her mother’s cousins, whose father owned the factory that her parents worked at, and even attended parties at their large Glen Rock home.
Mary graduated from Fair Lawn High School and worked in Paterson as a secretary and office assistant. She met her husband through one of her clients and moved out of Paterson. She continued working in various offices and took classes at Farleigh Dickinson University. Today, Mary lives today in Morris County with Al, her husband of more than fifty years.
