MARY ENGLANDER

ENGLANDER--Mary Drago, on August 1, 2012, at home. A life-long and vehement New Yorker with a passion for art and for all things Italian, for much of her life Mary and her husband, Alan Englander, lived to the hilt the City life of culture, humor, and outspoken liberal thinking, with regular excursions to Europe and beyond. An elegant, indefatigable walker, Mary (with Alan) had an extraordinary eye for contemporary art, reflected in the personal collection that gave them continuous joy. As long as was possible, Sunday mornings found them at the Met, weekdays at galleries and theater, and Sunday evenings babysitting on Riverside Drive, cooking the filet mignon and haricots verts they felt compelled to import from the Upper East Side for their grandsons. Equally capable of overwhelming empathy and of judgment, of defending and laughing at herself, Mary will be missed by her daughter Diane Englander, son-in-law Mark Underberg, and grandsons Andrew Englander Underberg and James Englander Underberg, for whom she was the world's most dedicated and delighted grandmother. Her memory will be celebrated privately, and the family asks that no flowers or contributions be sent.