PGSNYS is saddened to announce the passing of our friend, colleague, Vice President, and passionate supporter of Polonia, Maureen E. Gleason, on 20 January 2025. Maureen was a long-time member of PGSNYS, serving in the roles of both Vice President and Trustee at various points in our history, and she volunteered at countless community outreach events over the years. Maureen helped spearhead the digitization of Buffalo’s historic Polish newspapers, the Dziennik dla Wszystkich and Polak w Ameryce, negotiating with the Buffalo History Museum and Buffalo State College for loan of their Polish language newspaper microfilm collections for digitization by PGSNYS. She was a driving force behind the funerary prayer card project, and she assisted with the establishment of PGSNYS’ Michael Drabik Collection in the Grosvenor Room at the Buffalo Central Library.

At Holy Mother of the Rosary Polish National Catholic Cemetery, Maureen worked tirelessly to index and transcribe grave markers as a substitute for early church records that were lost in a fire. She was instrumental in organizing a ground penetrating radar survey of the oldest parts of the cemetery that was conducted by Buffalo State students and staff in 2014, confirming unmarked grave locations in a large open field. She also helped initiate the annual Polish Ancestors Day event at St. Stanislaus Cemetery and conducted tours of the cemetery. Maureen’s efforts in the service of Polonia were recognized when she was recipient of the Am-Pol Eagle newspaper’s Citizen of the Year Award in 2015.

Beyond Polonia, Maureen was involved with Friends of Concordia Cemetery, the Bennet Family Cemetery (Cheektowaga), and the abandoned community town (Union Road) cemetery, also in Cheektowaga.

Maureen was very involved with the Cheektowaga Historical Society, serving as Town Historian, and was Secretary of the Polish Arts Club of Buffalo. She was a member of the Western New York Genealogical Society and the Buffalo Irish Genealogical Society.  

A Licensed Practical Nurse, Maureen frequently conducted First Aid Training for Scouting America (formerly the Boy Scouts of America), and she was a Unit Commissioner in Scouting America’s Onondaga district. 

A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated at Our Lady Help of Christians Chapel in Cheektowaga with burial in St. Adalbert’s Cemetery in Lancaster. May she rest in peace.