1933 - 2025
SLINGERLANDS—Mary Louisa (Cloon) Friedlander passed away peacefully on April 29, 2025, at Little Falls Hospital following a brief illness.
Mary Lou was born on May 15, 1933, in Ironwood, Michigan to the late Mary Louisa (King) and William Gabriel Cloon, and was very proud of her childhood in the UP. After graduating from Northwestern University and Chicago Wesley Memorial School of Nursing in 1955, Mary Lou worked as a clinical nurse at Chicago Lying-in Hospital, where she met her future husband, the late Robert L. Friedlander, M.D. While in college, Mary Lou pledged Alpha Chi Omega and remained a very proud supporter throughout her life. She was also fiercely devoted to the Northwestern University Wildcats football team.
Mary Lou and Bob were married in Ironwood, Michigan, on November 27, 1960, and settled immediately in Norfolk, Virginia, where Mary Lou worked as a nurse while Bob, a naval medical officer serving with the 6th Fleet, rejoined his ship, the USS James C. Owens, then touring the Mediterranean. After two years’ active service, Mary Lou and Bob moved to Albany when a former mentor asked Bob to join him at Albany Medical Center Hospital as an instructor and chief resident in obstetrics and gynecology (a noted OB-GYN, Bob would eventually serve as dean and president of Albany Medical College). Except for a brief stay in Salt Lake City, Utah, where Bob completed post-doctoral work in steroid biochemistry, Mary Lou and Bob remained life-long residents of Delmar and then Slingerlands.
Mary Lou’s early years in Upstate New York were spent supporting her husband’s busy, on-call obstetrics and gynecology practice and raising their two daughters (Suzan, Cooperstown and Rebecca, Reno, Nevada). Mary Lou also invested her energy and time ensuring that future generations of girls and women had more opportunities. Her impressive volunteer work included supporting the Delmar Dolfins Swim Club, fundraising with the Pan-Hellenic Council to help provide young women with college scholarships, and ensuring that the local high school was Title IX-compliant by helping establish a girls’ varsity swim team.
Some of Mary Lou’s favorite things included reading (particularly British history), receiving travel-related refrigerator magnets from friends and family, licorice, watching collegiate football and basketball, and cats. In fact, she often quipped that her obit could simply say “she loved cats” and that would be enough. Her Wildcats football faith was ultimately rewarded when her husband paid out a bet he never thought he’d lose—a dream trip to watch her beloved Wildcats play in the 1996 Rose Bowl. In her final years, her greatest delights were following Suzan’s career as a museum professional and being Rebecca’s number one competitive swim fan.
Mary Lou was predeceased by her husband; brother William G. Cloon Jr.; and brother- and sister-in-law Joe and Margaret (Friedlander) Cohen.
She is survived by her daughters, Suzan and Rebecca; sister-in-law Leonora “Nony” Cloon; nephews William Gregory Cloon (Melissa, William G., and Robert G.), Daniel Cohen (Wendy Wallace), David Cohen (Michelle Kaplan, Joshua, Samuel, and Olivia); and niece Alicia (Cohen) Lynn (Phillip, Griffin). Mary Lou was especially proud of her grand-nephews, grand-niece, and grand-canine Addie. She loved their visits and phone calls, and hearing about everything they were accomplishing!
Suzan and Rebecca would like to thank the staffs at St. Peter’s Hospital (Emergency; Surgical; McAuley) and Little Falls Hospital (Emergency; 3 East) for their exceptional care; and “The Debbies” for their bi-monthly visits, often with Wyatt, Mary Lou’s special canine friend.
No services will be held.
Donations to honor Mary Lou and her commitment to education, the arts, and animals can be made to Northwestern University, Alpha Chi Omega, Glimmerglass Opera, or the SPCA of your choosing.
If you would like to send condolences to the family, send an email to Connell, Dow & Deysenroth. We will forward your comments to the family. If you would like to send flowers in memory of the deceased, contact Mohican Flowers at (607) 547-8822, or A Rose is a Rose at (607) 264-3100.
