Mary Kassab-Shababb of Secaucus prides herself on being alert and active, but admits she has slowed down on many activities over the years due to her love of family and travel, as well as the fact that Mother Nature tells us all in our Golden Years to slow down the pace a bit.

Recently celebrating her 81st birthday with her family, Mrs. Shababb tells us that she was born in Union City, attended Emerson High School there, and later went to work in embroidery factories when Union City was known as the Embroidery and Textile Capital of the World. She met and married her now deceased husband Henry “Hank” Shababb, who came from Connecticut, in 1951. She went on to work as a teacher’s aide for 12 years with the Union City Board of Education, but afterward became a housewife, attending to her family, friends, and social gathering clubs.

She raised seven children, namely: Michael, who is presently the chief financial officer for the North Hudson Community Action Corporation in West New York; Susan Pirro of Secaucus, who presently is the health benefits administrator for the Union City Board of Education; Karen Wilson, who is a Union City Board of Education school principal; Lori Maione of Weehawken, who presently works in the township’s public safety office; another son Richard who lives in Fairfield; and two other sons, Steven and Robert, who live in Union City and Secaucus, respectively. Mrs. Shababb moved into Secaucus in 1995, and the names of her granddaughters are Nicole, Christie, Lauren, Cheryl, Melissa, Katrina, Kira, Sydney, Amanda and Samantha, and her grandsons Michael and Jared.

Mrs. Shababb joined senior citizen activities before and after her husband’s passing, which kept her active within her community. She became a member of the Senior Citizen’s Clubs in Secaucus, and became a member of the Merry Milers walking group. She attends bus rides, baseball games, Broadway shows, trips to Atlantic City, shopping trips, and is a lifelong Democrat. She is a communicant of the Saint George Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church in Little Falls, where she is involved in religious activities. Mrs. Shababb and her deceased husband are of Syrian-American heritage.

Her vacation travels have taken her on cross-country vacations to Florida, Las Vegas, and California, and she loves the music of Frank Sinatra and was a “Bobby Soxer” in her youth as one of his fans. She has traveled to the Caribbean, and the Hawaiian Islands.

Her daughter Susan Pirro remembers her mother always helping neighbors in need, and their close family was rich in family-life. Ms. Pirro tells us that her mother always attended card parties, and was also a member of the local Parent/Teacher Association. Mrs. Shababb tells us that a hobby of hers was cooking Mid-Eastern, Arabic, and Italian dishes, and giving trays of food away to the neighbors and friends, as well as to local events and cook-outs. Today, she still meets with family and friends at the Harmon Cove Pool, and she still loves to watch over the grandkids.

Union City Deputy Mayor Nicholas Mastorelli tells us that he remembers when the Shababb’s (meaning Hank and Mary), were members of the Syrian American Club, and how they were both local Democrats in both Union City and Secaucus, as Mastorelli was also the Secaucus Democratic Party chairman in the past. Moreover, Mastorelli tells us that when the Shababb family lived in Union City, they lived in the “Dardanelles” section of the city, named after the region in the Middle East, which is made up of various mid-Eastern cultures, and in Union City, Armenians also lived among the various groups, said Mastorelli. This section of the city then was basically from 23rd to 29th Street, and east and west from Summit to Bergenline Avenues. Furthermore, said Mastorelli fondly, the Shababb family was a great and tremendous family and it was an honor to be a friend of theirs. Secaucus Mayor Michael Gonnelli says that Mrs. Shababb is a wonderful woman, and a great lady who he has known for many years, and she is to be commended for her love of the Town of Secaucus! So Mrs. Mary Shababb, a very happy birthday to you — and all the best! …

We hear that Guttenberg Police Captain Joel Magenheimer recently took a bad fall, and has been mending from his injuries. Captain Magenheimer get better soon, the town needs your guardianship!...

Approximately one dozen North Bergenites helped Our Lady of Fatima and Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Churches in the township in their clothing drive recently. They are: Elvira Barillas, Erin Barillas, Ruth Evertz, Carol Ann Fontana, Steve Fong, Liz Gonzalez, Michelle Lenczuk, Kim Nicoliello, Betty Peralta, Mercy Pozo, Debbie Scalice, and Sheila Zulueta. All township employees should be commended for their community outreach and civic duty. Best wishes to all!...

COMMENTARY: The recent mayoral election in Bayonne saw another kind of reform politics, but this time it was within the Democratic Party there, and much different from Hoboken’s beachhead of reform. Mayor Mark Smith, who this time won a full term, began his last special election term with a downsizing of government, promises that he has kept, and pledges to do more in the future. Sounds good! However, I do see influence here from his father-in-law Neil Carroll, who is a mayoral aide to West New York Mayor Silverio “Sal” Vega, who is probably the last of a long line of expert and savvy Irish-Catholic public servants, since the passing of former Mayor Dennis Collins of Bayonne, and a fine gentleman. Mr. Carroll is a former Hudson County Freeholder, and has always been known for being a student of civics/politics himself. I look forward to this Mark Smith history in the making, and a new chapter begins!

And so it goes … until next time … see you around town … MATT.

***PLEASE NOTE: Readers who would like to contribute to this column can do so by mailing your news items, and your photographs, along with your name, address, and telephone number to Matthew Amato, columnist, c/o The Hudson Reporter, 1400 Washington St., Hoboken, NJ 07030. THANK YOU!