September 28, 2006 Issue                                       

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©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

Obituaries

William J. Magarity

William J. Magarity

William J. Magarity, 85, of Wyndmoor, a widely known automobile dealer who was long active in civic and charitable affairs, died of heart failure Sept. 18 at St. Joseph’s Villa, Flourtown.

Mr. Magarity owned Magarity Chevrolet of Flourtown and Magarity Ford of Chestnut Hill, and had been in the automobile business for more than 60 years.

He started his automotive career in the 1940s as a sales representative for the Packard Motor Co. in Philadelphia and later was transferred to Massachusetts and Michigan.

He returned to Philadelphia in 1957 to work for the Ford Motor Co. as the youngest regional sales manager in the country for its Edsel division.

In 1961 he joined Volkswagen Atlantic as the Middle Atlantic distributor for the popular Volkswagen Beetle and was instrumental in structuring the retail dealer network for the company.

He left Volkswagen in 1976 and purchased what was then the Coupe Chevrolet dealership in Flourtown. In 1988 he purchased Koelle Ford in Chestnut Hill. He operated both dealerships as family businesses with two sons and two daughters on his staff.

Raised in Germantown, Mr. Magarity graduated from the former St. John the Baptist High School in Manayunk where he played football and baseball and was named to the all-Catholic basketball team in 1939.

A graduate of then La Salle College, he was quarterback of the school’s football team in 1941, the year football was discontinued. When the program was reestablished in 1997, he threw out the first ball.

Mr. Magarity coached the LaSalle College High School baseball team in 1944, leading it to an undefeated season and a city championship. He later coached the semipro Stenton Rams of the Pop-Warner football conference to five city championships from 1943 to 1948.

He was inducted into the Philadelphia Basketball Old-Timer’s Hall of Fame in 1995 and the 21st Ward Sports Hall of Fame in 1997.

As a local businessman, he sponsored many Little League and other sports teams. He contributed to numerous charities, schools and nonprofit organizations, among them La Salle University, Chestnut Hill College and Inn Dwelling, a Germantown organization that provides housing for the needy and scholarships to young people.

He enjoyed playing golf with friends at Whitemarsh Country Club and spending time with his family at Sea Isle City, N.J.

Mr. Magarity and his first wife, the late Kathleen Magarity Tracy, had eight children before they were divorced. He married Nancy Salmon Magarity in 1971.

He is survived by his wife; sons William, Gregory, Joseph, Mark, Michael, and John; daughters Lizanne Pando and Maureen; stepdaughters Reen Ginty, Joan Nolen, Nancy Siefert and Patricia Salmon; 28 grandchildren and seven great grandchildren.

A funeral Mass was celebrated Sept. 25 at Our Mother of Consolation Church in Chestnut Hill. Burial was in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Cheltenham.

Charles Buckley

Charles D. Buckley, 83, of Chestnut Hill, died on Sept. 25.

Mr. Buckley is survived by his wife, Theresa N. Buckley; son Vincent Buckley; daughter Bonnie Ragan; stepson Nick Stoppi; a granddaughter and four sisters.

A Mass of Christian burial will be held on Thursday, Sept. 28 at 10:30 a.m. at Our Mother of Consolation R. C. Church, 89 E. Chestnut Ave. in Chestnut Hill.

Elizabeth “Betsy” Strayer Corson

Elizabeth Strayer Corson, 67, of Fort Washington, a former teacher and a volunteer tutor and guide, died Sept. 19 at Abington Memorial Hospital of advanced breast cancer.

Born in Princeton, N.J., she was the only daughter of the late Joseph R. and Lois E. Strayer. Her father was the Dayton-Stockton Professor of History at Princeton and chairman of the history department from 1942 to 1962.

Mrs. Corson, known to her friends as “Betsy,” graduated from Princeton High School where she played the clarinet in the marching band and field hockey on the All-State New Jersey team. She was a graduate of Smith College, majoring in history, and held a Master of Arts in Teaching degree from Radcliffe College of Harvard University.

She was married in 1962 to George C. Corson, Jr., son of the late Judge and Mrs. George C. Corson of Plymouth Meeting.

Mrs. Corson taught world history at Waltham High School in Massachusetts and at Wissahickon High School in Montgomery County and conducted special education classes at Springfield (Montco.) Middle School. As a volunteer teacher, she worked with third and fourth-grade students at the Alexander McCall School in Philadelphia and tutored adults in English as a Second Language through the Willow Grove Literacy Council.

She also volunteered as a guide at the Fairmount Park Houses under the auspices of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

She was an avid reader and a long-time member of the Chestnut Hill Literature Group II.

Mrs. Corson attended the Gwynedd Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, where she had served on the School Committee.

She is survived by her husband; daughters Tracy B. Corson of Medford, Mass., and Julia R. Corson (Taeyung Surh) of Portland, Ore.; sons Benjamin C. Corson (Stephanie C. Upp) of Oakland, Cal., and Nicholas W.C. Corson (Jennifer M. McGregor) of Brooklyn, N.Y.; three granddaughters, one grandson and nine nieces and nephews. Her brother, Charles D. Strayer, predeceased her.

In accordance with her wishes, there will be no local funeral or memorial service. Her ashes will be interred at the Strayer family camp, “Far Echoes,” on Lake Winnipesaukee, Moultonborough, N.H.

Contributions may be made to the Willow Grove Literacy Council, c/o Antoinette Lunsford, 3002 Raymond Avenue, Roslyn, PA 19001-3508.

Jocelyn Grace Howe

Jocelyn Grace Howe

Jocelyn Grace Howe, 55, of Newtown Square, a former teacher and an equestrian instructor for the disabled, died suddenly Sept. 15 in Wilcott, Colo., where she was vacationing.

Mrs. Howe was born and reared in Chestnut Hill. She attended Springside School and graduated from the Foxcroft School in Virginia. She attended Pine Manor Junior College in Boston and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Mrs. Howe was an avid outdoorswoman and had volunteered for many animal welfare and land conservation organizations. A horseback rider, she earned a therapeutic riding instruction certificate from Thorncroft Therapeutic Horseback Riding Center in Malvern, where she had been a volunteer for the last eight years.

Mrs. Howe married Edward “Tug” Howe, Jr., in 1973 in Aspen, Colo. The couple moved to New York City, where Mrs. Howe worked as a second-grade teacher, and later returned to Philadelphia in 1980. Mr. Howe died in 2001.

Mrs. Howe was a member of Radnor Hunt Club, Gulph Mills Golf Club, Edgemont Golf Club and Merion Cricket Club.

She is survived by her fiancé Erik Tank-Nielsen; daughters Kingsley Grace Howe and Nicole Powers Howe, and sisters Jennifer and Barsha.

Memorial services were held Sept. 25, at the Church of Redeemer in Bryn Mawr, Pa. Burial was private. Donations may be made to the Chester County S.P.C.A., the Thorncroft Center, and the Willistown Conservation Trust.

Frank Burns

Frank X. Burns, of Wyndmoor, died Sept. 25. He was the husband of Rosemary Caldwell Burns and the late Mildred B. Burns.

Mr. Burns is survived by his wife; sons Donald F. Burns (Carroll) and Richard J. Burns (Kathryn); daughter Jane B. Waldner; five grandchildren; 5 great grandchildren; three stepchildren; eight step grandchildren; one step great grandchild; and brothers John M., Robert V. and Joseph.

A funeral Mass will be celebrated on Sept. 30 at 9 a.m. at Seven Dolors Church, 1200 E. Willow Grove Ave. in Wyndmoor. Interment will be in Holy Sepulchre cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St. Genevieve Church, 1225 Bethlehem Pike, Flourtown, PA 19031.

Martin Mullee

Martin J. Mullee, 44, of East Norriton, formerly of Chestnut Hill, died on Sept. 21. He was the son of the late Mark P. Jr. and Mary (Donnelly) Mullee.

Mr. Mullee is survived by his wife, Jacqueline; children Nicole, Jennifer, Shawn, Tara and Ryan Mullee, and Richard and Sean Caldwell; sisters Mariellen Carr, Maureen Bossuyt and Michelle Reiser; brothers Michael and Mark P. III; two grandchildren; eleven nieces and nephews and five great-nieces and nephews.

A funeral Mass was celebrated at Our Mother of Consolation Church in Chestnut Hill on Sept. 25. Interment took place at St. Patrick’s Cemetery in Norristown.

Memorial contributions may be sent to The American Cancer Society, 1626 Locust St., Phila., PA 19103.