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Mary Zaid Stees (nee Magnone), 72, died on January 15, 2024. She is a loved wife, mother, sister, daughter, and friend. She leaves little doubt that she was full of life -- she said what she meant and meant what she said.
Family was her passion. She was all about carrying on her Lebanese heritage with food, family, and friends. Every holiday (and near holiday) was a party with the best laid table, food, and camaraderie, and always an open door.
She was a devout Catholic and dedicated to her church, Our Lady of Lebanon. She was often found at mass, church group meetings, and running the kitchen for bake sales, church events, and the Mahrajan Festival.
She was a life-long resident of the Ohio Valley who loved traveling and going out, especially with her husband Bill, taking cruises, and wining and dining wherever the wind blew them.
Mary Zaid loved needlepoint and spent hours crafting and framing elaborate canvases that decorated her home and that she gifted to friends.
She was the loudest sideline cheerleader at her children's athletic events, and even coached a few seasons of rec league soccer. She volunteered as a Girl Scout leader when her daughters were in elementary school. As a grandmother (aka Sitte), she totally spoiled her grandkids.
Mary Zaid graduated from John Marshall High School and helped plan fun-loving class reunions for many decades after. She attended Drexel University where she met and married her love, Bill Stees. After graduating with her accounting degree, Mary Zaid and Bill moved to WV near her extended family.
Her mother, aunts, and uncles founded women's clothing store Jozabeth's in Moundsville, where Mary Zaid worked after college. She loved fashion and shopping trips to Pittsburgh and New York to buy merchandise for the store. She and her sister, Libby G. Magnone, took over co-ownership of the store until its closing in 2013.
Mary Zaid was preceded in death by her parents, William Nicholas and Elizabeth Ann Magnone. She is survived by her husband, Bill Stees; son William Patrick Stees; daughters Josie Fertig, Caroline (Josh) McDowell and Gina Stees; sister Elizabeth G. (Raymond Young) Magnone; brother William Nicholas (Arlene) Magnone; four grandchildren; and many cousins.
Family will receive friends on Monday from 4-7pm at Grisell Funeral Home & Crematory, 1 Ridgecrest Road, Bethlehem/Wheeling. Funeral liturgy with Mass will be celebrated Tuesday at 11:00 a.m. at Our Lady of Lebanon Church, Wheeling, with Msgr. Bakhos Chidiac as celebrant.
Graveside services will follow at 2:00pm at Riverview Cemetery, Moundsville.
In memory of Mary Zaid Stees, memorial contributions can be made to Our Lady of Lebanon Church, 2216 Eoff St., Wheeling, WV 26003.
Sympathy expressions at grisell funeralhomes.com.