Mary Magdalene (Herman) Sberna

Mom (Mary) was 91 years young as she always referred to herself. Our beautiful Mother went to heaven peacefully, in the early hours on the morning of February 12th at 2:50am, after a very brief illness. She was surrounded by her beautiful family; all of whom she cherished with all her heart!!  Mary's most prized possessions included her 4 children, her 10 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren.

Mary was born on February 14th, 1932 in Reed, Ohio on the farm home of her parents, John and Frances (Scherley) Herman in Bellevue, Ohio. This day made her even more special because she was a Valentines baby!

Mary was a 1950 graduate of Thompson High School.  She was a cheerleader for the Thompson Basketball team, which sparked her love of Basketball. Upon graduation, she worked at the General Electric Lamp Plant and at one point she was promoted as inspector being the first women to hold this position at a time when women were just beginning to be recognized for their strengths outside of the home. She managed this job, along with being a great wife and support, while raising her children and keeping a beautiful, loving home.

On January 19th, 1952 she married James Sberna of Bellevue. Mary had four amazing children, Vicki, Chuck, Vince and Jill. In 1974, they divorced, and both went their separate ways. In the early 70's, Mary worked at the Ford Motor Company in Sandusky Ohio. After being laid off from Ford in 1980, she decided to start a new life in California. For two years, she rode the public transportation system to the inner city of Los Angles where she put herself through LA Trade-Technical college studying Hospitality Management.  While going to school, she also had her own cleaning business and met some of the most interesting people along that route of her journey.  She worked as an Events Coordinator at the Shilo Inn in San Dimas.  She eventually moved to San Diego where she found her dream job at a world-renowned retirement community, Casa De Manana as Director of Housekeeping. She loved this property since it was in La Jolla, right across the street from the beautiful ocean. The residents adored Mary.   She had a special way of caring for all the residents and treated them as she would her own parents.  Of course, there were a few hardheaded ones that she had to win over. At Casa, she met two of her dearest friends, Kittye Wallies and Dan Ordons. After retirement from Casa De Manana, she packed her life up once again. This journey took her to be with 3 of her 4 children in Las Vegas, NV.  She was very excited to be around her grandkids and of course her own grown children. She was fortunate enough to find her dream apartment at The Vintage at Seven Hills right by the pool, where she was able to keep up her physical fitness by swimming daily, rain or shine up until her brief illness.

She is survived by daughter Vicki (Robert) Tinnel and grandkids Joseph (Laura) Tinnel great grandson Landon. Scot (Auroa) Tinnel and great grandkids, Matthew, Mark,  Karina and Jasper; son Chuck Sberna (Melissa Fulton) and grandsons, Matthew (Tiffany) Sberna and great grandkids James, Daisa and Tavius Sberna, Michael (Cat) Sberna and great granddaughter Charlie, Jacob (Niki) Sberna; son Vincent (Sharon) Sberna and grandkids Dominic (Kaitlyn) Sberna and Alyscia (Dalton) Chapman and great grand-daughter Avery Margaret Chapman; daughter Jill (Joseph) Cabralda and grandkids Kayla and Kyle Stockton and Evan Cabralda; and sister Agnes (Andy) Wilhelm.

In addition to her parents, she is preceded in death by sisters, Eleanor Flicker, Rita LaBonte, Sister Beatrice Herman and brothers Richard, Victor, Paul, and Marcus “Max” Herman.

A Funeral Mass at St. Thomas More in Henderson, NV will be held on April 12th at 10am followed by a Celebration of Life gathering. A video link will be available on the day of the service at www.stmlv.org.

Memorial donations can be made in memory of Mary M. Sberna to St. Francis Convent, 200 St. Francis Ave. Tiffin, Ohio 44883.