Mary Gridley Van Arsdale, 77, a resident of Bennington, VT
passed away peacefully on Monday May 28, 2018 at the Centers for Living and
Rehabilitation. She was born November 3, 1941, the daughter of Lt. Col. Robert
Reid and Leeta Marie (Packer) Gridley at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington
D.C.
She graduated from Wellsville, NY High School in 1959 and
attended Elmira College for two years before graduating from Penn State
University in 1963 with a B.A. Degree. Her early career in New York City was
spent in Human Resource Management at Remington Rand, which later became the
Sperry Rand Corporation. She returned to graduate school in 1972 and received a
Masters’ Degree from Columbia University, Teachers College. She then worked in
Human Resource Management at the United States Life Insurance Company in
Manhattan. In 1963 Mary was recruited by an avant-guard boutique advertising
company known as Carl Ally, Inc. it was to become a top- rated agency, changing
its name to Ally and Gargano, Inc. and eventually Smith, Barney, Harris, Uppam
Marketing Corporation of America in Manhattan.
In 1973, Ms. Van Arsdale married Malcolm G. Van Arsdale III
at the Central Presbyterian Church in New York City. She soon retired to become
the mother of her only child, Malcolm IV and became a watercolorist and
business consultant. She was an active artist in the Ridgewood, NJ area from
1973 to 1978 having studied part time at the Art’s Student League in New York
City. In this new career she authored “A Guide to Family Financial Counseling:
Credit, Debt and Money Management (Dow Jones-Irwin 1982) and co-authored
“Financial Planning for Bankers” (American Bankers Association, 1985). She
spoke and lectured nationally on family finance. She also worked part time for
the firm Van Kline and Davenport.
In 1985 she divorced and moved to Bennington, VT starting a
new career in admissions at Southern Vermont College. She started as Assistant
Director of the Adult Program and then Acting Director of Admissions and
finally Director of Admissions in 1990. She was Director of Admission at the
International College of Hospitality Management in Washington, CT. This Swiss
school is part of a seven college worldwide network. This new college
eventually joined with Johnson and Wales College of Rhode Island. In 1995 she
became Director of Admissions at Rosemont College in Philadelphia, PA and
retired in 2009 from the Admissions Director at Cornell University, School of
Industrial and Labor Relations.
She was a very active committee member at the colleges where
she worked and equally active in associated professional organizations. She was
a member of the Catamount Rotary Club of Bennington and a board member at the
Old Castle Theatre Company. She enjoyed gardening, arm chair politics, art,
painting and restoring old houses. She also enjoyed clothes, having always
wished to be a fashion designer and most of all spending time with her friends.
Survivors include a son, Malcolm G. “Mac” Van Arsdale IV and
his wife Jillian Van Arsdale (Gauthier) of Bennington; a grandson, Malcolm G.
Van Arsdale V; a sister, Karen Gridley and her husband Wolfgang Ronnefeldt; a
brother John Robert Gridley and his wife Anne, Three nieces and one nephew and
their families.
A memorial service to celebrate Mary's life will be
Saturday, June 16, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. at the Grace United Church, 289 North
Main Street in Wellsville, NY, with Rev. Carol Stewart presiding. The burial
will be in Ulysses Cemetery, Ulysses, PA. Please consider memorial donations to
any charity of the donor's choice. To leave online condolences, please visit www.embserfuneralhome.com.
