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KALAMAZOO, MI — Although she had traveled the world, Kalamazoo, was always "home" to Mary von Schreiner, a life-long booster of many Kalamazoo organizations. Von Schreiner died peacefully at her Naples, Florida, home on April 27 (2015). The cause of death was congestive heart failure. She was 75.
A long-time member of the Kalamazoo Service Club (now The Junior League), von Schreiner was most recently a board member for the Stulberg International String Competition, as well as a supporter of the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival, the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, the Kalamazoo Public Library, the Community Healing Center and many other local organizations.
Von Schreiner was born on November 14, 1939, in Kalamazoo. She is the daughter of Leonard T. Cookson and Rhoda Upjohn Cookson, and the granddaughter of Mrs. and Dr. Lawrence N. Upjohn, president of the Upjohn Company (now Pfizer) from 1931-1953. She graduated from The Northfield School for Girls (now The Northfield Mount Hermon School) in 1957 and attended Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota.
On Aug. 1, 1959, she married Heinrich G. von Schreiner from Graz, Austria. The newlyweds moved to Graz while Heinrich (Henry) von Schreiner completed his engineering degree before returning to Kalamazoo in 1962.
In 1971 Mary von Schreiner's entrepreneurial spirit and love of entertaining led the couple to purchase The Deerhill Inn in West Dover, Vermont, as well as an ice cream parlor and gift store complex in Wilmington, Vermont, called "von Schreiner's Delectables." The couple successfully ran both businesses until they retired in 1986.
Her obvious twinkle and snow-white hair made her a popular Mrs. Claus at the annual Christmas party for the Deerfield Valley's children. her success as the auctioneer for the Dover Women's Association's charity was such that the DWA planned its biannual event around her availability. For her work on the Mount Snow Region's Chamber of Commerce and her contributions to several Deerfield Valley charities, Mary von Schreiner received the Women's Association's Community Service Award.
In 2003, the von Schreiner's returned to the area and bought a new home on Gull Lake where she and Henry frequently put their innkeeper skills to the test by hosting large gatherings including several benefits for local groups.
The arts community as well as her friends benefited from Mary's return to the Kalamazoo area. At the von Schreiner's 50th wedding anniversary party in 2009, family friend and well-known jazz musician Lew Del Gatto wrote a song especially for the couple called "Groovin' in Kalamazoo."
In 2005, the von Schreiners invited five of Mary's Kalamazoo kindergarten classmates; Bob Brown, Priscilla Blair, Carol Harding, Randy Crockett, John Garside and their spouses on a trip to Austria so that Mary could show her oldest friends everything she loved about her adopted homeland.
Travel was a great love of von Schreiner's. She and her husband completed three world cruises, and crossed the United States in their Mercedes Sprinter "Van Go" several times always with some grandchildren along for the ride, however, the friends Mary made as a child in Kalamazoo remained central to her life regardless of where she was living at any given time.
A voracious reader whose personal library contains over 4,000 books, von Schreiner was an expert in European history, and a requested lecturer on art and literature. In 2014, she gave a lecture to both Kalamazoo Friday Club members and the Kalamazoo Institute of the Arts Book Study group on the history of Gustav Klimt's paintings and the book "The Lady in Gold" by Anne Marie O'Connor.
The undisputed matriarch of her large extended family; von Schreiner's nephew, Stephen Cookson aptly compared his Auntie Mary to "Auntie Mame." She is survived by her husband, Heinrich G. von Schreiner, her daughter Gretchen von Schreiner-Narucki and son-in-law Jeffrey Narucki of Standish, Maine; her daughter Heidelinde von Schreiner, son-in-law Christopher Sullivan and granddaughters Gratia and Sarah Sullivan of Glen Ridge, New Jersey, and her daughter Mimy von Schreiner-Valenti; son-in law John Valenti, and grandsons Jack and William Valenti of Naples, Florida; and her two brothers, Dr. Lawrence Cookson of Naples, Florida and Dr. David Cookson of Madison, Wisconsin.
The family plans a memorial service at the Gull Lake Country Club from noon to 4 p.m. June 28. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Stulberg International String Competition, the Kalamazoo Public Library, or the Community Healing Center.
Submitted by Heidi von Schreiner.
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