Mario D. Macera

Mr. Mario D. Macera age 87, of Oriskany, formerly of Utica, passed away on Saturday August 22, 2020 at home with his beloved family by his side.

He was born in Utica on February 13, 1933 a son of the late Carmine and Carmela Romanelli Macera.  Mario was a graduate of TR Proctor High School, and went on to earn a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Mario served our country during peacetime in the US Army from 1955-1957. On July 2, 1960 he was married to Jeannette Pagliaro in Mt. Carmel Church, a loving and blessed union of over 60 years.

Mario was employed as an Electrical Engineer with the General Electric Co. for over 35 years until his retirement. He was a loving and deeply devoted husband, father and grandfather, or “GD” as his grandkids proudly called him. A true gentleman, his family was the center of his life.  He will be sadly missed but never forgotten.

He executed precise engineering skills during his employment at GE/Martin Marietta always striving to collect more data in search of a solution as evident by his “More Data Macera” nickname.  This data fascination continued after retirement and for the rest of his life with collection and saving of huge paper amounts of automobile gas usage, blood pressure graphs, glucose readings/graphs, doctor appointments, medical notes and surgeries, medical receipts, lab results, blood tests, radiology reports, hospital admission reasons & dates, and transcripts of every medical event in his life.  He was a sports enthusiast not only listening to baseball games early on with just the radio, then football and basketball on TV, but also  joining the family in the Heart Run/Walk yearly event being a walker, organizing and playing games of wiffleball (unique style of pitching), softball, badminton, racquetball, bocce, frisbee, land and pool volleyball and any possible type of sports game we could invent.  He spent many Wednesday nights watching his kids run in the weekly Parkway ski area Developmental runs and the Falling Leaves run, always being at the finish line to congratulate.  He looked forward to the yearly Boilermaker race giving us a pre-race send-off and then being on the course and then at the finish line after to congratulate us and join in the festivities.  He was an avid card player, always ready to play pinochle, pitch, rummy, Uno, and any family group card game that popped up. He was a recording enthusiast taking pictures and video of many sports events, family vacations, family gatherings and early morning excitement around the Christmas tree when his children were young.

Surviving are his beloved wife Jeannette; three sons and daughters-in-law Mario D. Jr. and Julia Macera of MA, Thomas and Elizabeth Macera of Cicero, Anthony and Kimberly Macera of Oriskany, and his daughter Jeannine Macera (Burrows) of Oriskany;  his cherished grandchildren Matthew Macera, Joshua and Tyler Macera, Ethan, Alex and Jake Burrows, and their father Fred Burrows Jr.; his in-laws Peter and Barbara Pagliaro of New Hartford and several nieces, nephews and cousins. He was predeceased by one brother Frank Macera.

Special thanks to the nurses and staff at St. Elizabeth’s Intensive and Special Care Units, the Home Visiting Caregivers, and Hospice & Palliative Care of Oneida, Herkimer and Eastern Madison Counties.  A very special thanks to Dr. Johnson of St. Elizabeth’s hospital for her extended care, support, and medical direction with Mario and his family.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend his Mass of Christian Burial on Thursday at 11:00 am in Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Genesee St. Utica. Private entombment will be in Calvary Cemetery Mausoleum. In keeping with CDC guidelines face masks, social distancing and church trace sign will be required.

In memory of Mario, please consider a donation to Hospice & Palliative Care, Oneida, Herkimer and Eastern Madison Counties (https://hospicecareinc.org/donations).