Marie Drury

Drury, Marie 93 of St. Petersburg passed away Nov. 3, 2022 at Palms of Pasadena Hospital. An enormous thank you to nurse Chris in the ICU, who truly helped all of us with her transition to God, a peaceful time.

Marie, “Lil” as some knew her would tell everyone; she lived a wonderful life. Her life evolved into this incredible life during her 64-year marriage to the “Love of My Life,” Al; the days they became parents to their only son, Bob and grandparents to their only granddaughter, Kelly. She is survived by them as well as Kelly’s husband, Shane Frazier; her great grandson, Gavin; her sister, Doris Bedard; her brother, Roger; her sisters-in-law, Rosann and Erika St. Jean; numberous nieces, nephews, cousins and an unknown amount of people she touched. She is preceded in death by her husband, Al; her parents, William and Beatrice; step-father, George Unwin; her brothers Billy and Henry; countless aunts, uncles, cousins and many others that called her a friend.Al preceded her in death in 2011. As his surviving spouse and certainly a dedicated wife, she is with him now and will be with him, forever at Bay Pines Veterans Cemetery.She was a marvelous inspiration and a fabulous example of how to be an amazing person, woman, mother and grandmother to all. She touched so many in her numerous volunteer years and jobs as a telephone operator for the New England Telephone Company in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, switchboard operator and housekeeping supervisor at St. Anthony’s hospital. She managed hotels in Massachusetts, California and apartment buildings in Florida with her late husband.They dedicated much of their retirement years to raising money for those less fortunate. The biggest by far was their “bingo bus trips”They did it all; the decorating, the advertising, the financial record keeping, the organizing, the cleaning, the collection of prizes, the logistics, the arrangements for the entertainment in Biloxi as well as on the round trip bus ride from St. Petersburg to Biloxi, MS. She started the bingo marathons after she could no longer do the bus trips. She started the marathons over 25years ago and they continue now, several times a year. They personally donated the dance floor at the Knights of Columbus Father Lopez Council’s #5737 hall to help make it a more attractive venue. She continued, for as long as she could, she even participated in several fashion shows in her late 80’s as a fundraiser.Marie took pride in every single thing she did and always strived to do her best. She won countless first place awards for all sorts of events from the time she as a little girl; she received awards from her employers, she has letters of appreciation from multiple organizations and a tremendous amount of recognition from the community. In her day-to-day life,  she could not go anywhere in Pinellas Park without someone coming up to her with a simple greeting or with their memories of something she had done with them or for them.

She did life “My Way” which was her theme song and summed up her incredible inner strength to do just that; in a time when it was unheard of for women.

One of her most important accomplishments, according to her, was being the founder and past president of the Father Lopez Columbiettes #5737. She would prefer donations in lieu of flowers be made to help these organizations spread generosity and the love of Jesus.

Her service will be Nov. 11, 2022 at Taylor Family Funeral Home(.com) in Pinellas Park (727) 545-9858 beginning at 10am and afterward her celebration will continue at the Knights of Columbus Father Lopez Hall located 7177 58th St. N. for anyone who would like to join us. If you are unable to attend or too shy, please put a card in the mail to any of the addresses above or post online whatever you would like to share. We would love to keep her contagious smile, laughter and memories as her legacy to live on.