Mary Lou McArdle
Mary Lou McArdle, of Peekskill, New York, and The Club at Briarcliff Manor, New York, passed away due to complications of ALS on Friday, April 3, 2026, at Phelps Hospital, with her family by her side and in her heart.
Mary Lou was born April 16, 1940, to the late John and Mae Currie of Brooklyn, New York.
As a reference librarian and avid reader, Mary Lou enjoyed travel, academic learning, and word games. She graduated from Fordham University in 1961 and started her career as a foreign language teacher. Also at Fordham, she met the love of her life, Jim McArdle. They married and started a large family before moving abroad to Saudi Arabia and then settling in Yorktown Heights, New York, where they raised their children, John, Mary Beth, Maureen, and Meg. While in Yorktown, they were active in St. Patrick’s parish and school.
Mary Lou started volunteering at and then working at John C. Hart Memorial Library. She went back to school for a master’s degree in library and information science at Pratt Institute. Later, she took a position at and retired from Phoenix Academy in Shrub Oak, New York.
She lived in Peekskill for many years and enjoyed swimming at Premier Athletic Club. She also volunteered at the Salvation Army. For the last year and a half, she resided at The Club at Briarcliff Manor, where she enjoyed volunteering at the library and serving as interim recording secretary for the independent living community.
Mary Lou had a passion for reading and would frequently recommend books to her friends, relatives, and acquaintances. She had an even greater love and devotion to family. She was the most loving and supportive mother and nana to her children and grandchildren.
She is predeceased by her parents John and Mae (Gsanger) Currie, her husband, James T. McArdle, and her son, James McArdle.
Mary Lou is survived by her beloved children John and Maureen McArdle, Mary Beth and John Hunt, Maureen O’Donnell and Jim Sanders, Meg and Joe Benedetto and her grandchildren Connor, Maeve, Ryan, Mairead, Rory, Bronwyn, and Sean. She is also survived by her sister, Margaret Ann Alcuri, as well as her nieces and nephews, Louis, Christine, Allen, Joseph, Michelle, Francis, Melissa, and their children, Sophia, Brandon, Andrew, Nate, and Kendal.
A mass of Christian burial is planned for Monday, April 13 at 10:00 a.m. at the Church of the Assumption, 131 Union Ave, Peekskill, New York 10566. It will be followed immediately by an interment at Rose Hills Memorial Park.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to ALS United, Friends of the John C. Hart Memorial Library, or Calvary Hospital.
– Sourced from Beecher Flooks Funeral Home Inc
