Mary Cardenas, age 86 years, former longtime resident of High Bridge, NJ, died peacefully on Easter Sunday, April 12, 2020, at Brandywine at Middlebook Assisted Living, Bridgewater Township, NJ.

Born on June 24, 1933 in Somerville, NJ, daughter of the late Edward and Elizabeth O’Connor Hughson, she was raised in Bradley Gardens, NJ, and was a lifelong High Bridge, NJ resident.

A 1951 graduate of Somerville High School, Mary worked for many years as an assembler for RCA, Bridgewater, NJ, and also as a Librarian for the High Bridge Public Library.

She would then go on to serve for more than eighteen years as a school bus driver for North Hunterdon HighSchool, where she was loved by students, parents, and her colleagues. For a period of time, she also served as the Acting Transportation Supervisor of the North Hunterdon Transport Department based on her wealth of knowledge and dedication to the job and its principles. She greatly enjoyed high school sports, and the bus runs to sporting events were by far her favorite. She was not only the girls basketball and softball driver, she was one of their biggest fans and supporters on all levels. Mary was a major proponent of women’s rights, and she saw her support of the young women in her community as a way to help give back.

An environmentalist, Mary was a member of the Sierra Club and the World Wildlife Fund. She loved animals, and had many bird feeders which were always kept full. She took in strays and was always on the lookout for animals who needed some extra love.

Faith was an important part of Mary’s world, and she was a longtime communicant of St. Joseph’s Church, High Bridge, NJ. She also enjoyed reading, spending time with family and friends at the Outer Banks, and participating in the democratic system by serving as an election pollster for over thirty years.

Her husband, Jonathan Emerson Cardenas, died in 2000.

Surviving are her children and their spouses, John Cardenas, Joanne and her husband, Charles Gonzalez, Bruce Edward Cardenas, and James Cardenas and his wife, Mary Duquette; her grandchildren, Doris, Mary, Janet, Billy, Jonathan, Sarah, Nicholas, Leslie, Emerson, and Olivia; her great grandchildren, Gavin, Stephen, Michael, Grace, Damion, Mason, and Jacob; her brother and sister-in-law, John and Anne Hughson; several extended family members; and many dear friends.

A Mass of Christian Burial celebrated by Reverend James A. Kyrpczak will take place on Tuesday, September 15, 2020 at 11:00 a.m. at St. Joseph’s Church, 59 Main Street, High Bridge, NJ 08829, under the care and direction of Wright & Ford Family Funeral Home and Cremation Services, 38 State Highway 31, Flemington, NJ 08822.

For those unable to attend, you may view the Mass via the Zoom link that appears at the end of this life legacy.

A private committal prayer and cremation at the Chapel of Ewing Crematory, Ewing Township, NJ, took place under the care and direction of Wright & Ford Family Funeral Home and Cremation Services, Flemington, NJ at the time of Mary’s passing

Please visit Mary’s permanent life celebration site at www.wrightfamily.com to light a candle of hope, leave messages of condolence, share words of comfort and recollection, and post photographs of her life.

Memorial contributions in her honor may be made to St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center, 575 Woodland Avenue, Madison, NJ 07940 or online by clicking HERE.

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Wright & Ford, your local, family owned & operated “Life Celebration Home”