Marie Louise McCormack

Marie Louise McCormack passed away peacefully, surrounded by family in her home in Jackson, Wyoming, on Sunday, August 20. She was ninety-five. She is survived by her husband of seventy years, Joseph, age ninety-seven, and their seven children, Joseph, Gregory, Elizabeth, John, Bruce, Marie, and Megan. Marie Louise also leaves behind two sisters, Elsie Kilvert and Elinor Buckley; and one brother, Gerry Buckley. She had fifteen grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Born on September 25, 1927, to Charles Ignatius and Louise (Ganss) Buckley in Brooklyn, New York, Marie Louise was the eldest daughter of a large family that included five boys and four girls. She attended St. Brendan’s High School and Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. 

Marie Louise met Joseph Gregory McCormack on Midwood Street in Brooklyn in 1951, when she was a high school teacher in Staten Island and he was soon to graduate NYU’s dental school. After a brief courtship, they married on February 12, 1953, then settled in Short Hills, New Jersey, the next year. It was in Short Hills that they opened Joseph’s dental practice and raised a large, loving, spirited family. 

Marie Louise was an active member in and taught Sunday school at Saint Rose of Lima Church, and she was a substitute teacher at Millburn High School. Marie Louise loved to indulge her children’s athleticism. Over family summers in Chatham, Massachusetts, she passed on her skills in sailing, swimming, and waterskiing; in winters, she taught them how to ski.  

After Joseph retired from dentistry in 1994, he and Marie Louise headed to Jackson, Wyoming. The move west was in a spirit of adventure and to create a family hub where their burgeoning clan of children and grandchildren, split between coasts, could congregate. The McCormacks enjoyed many ski vacations together over thirty years. In Wyoming, Marie Louise entertained friends and family and enjoyed hiking, biking, and cross country skiing. She and Joe traveled to Russia, Africa, India, and Europe.  

Marie Louise was a kind and loving presence to all those who had the privilege of knowing her. She will be greatly missed.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that donations be made in her honor to Our Lady of the  Mountains  Catholic Church,  P.O. Box 992, Jackson, WY 83001