Visitation: SUNDAY, December 8, 2019: 4-9 pm at The Dietrich Funeral Homes, Inc., 2480 Kensington Ave., Amherst.
Service: MONDAY, December 9, 2019: A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 9:15 am at St. Benedict Church, Eggertsville. VINAL – Mary (nee Staubinger)
December 4, 2019, at age 78. Beloved
wife of Eugene R. Vinal; loving mother
of Gregory (Jeanne) and Mary Lynn
(Gary) Illos; dearest grandmother
of Elizabeth, Gregory Jr., Frederic,
Sarah Vinal and Carly Illos; sister
of the late V. Robert (late Marsha)
Straubinger, Carolann Straubinger and
Paul (Patricia) Straubinger. Visitation
at THE DIETRICH FUNERAL HOME,
INC., 2480 Kensington Ave., Amherst,
NY 14226, on Sunday, December 8,
2019 from 4-9 PM. A Mass of Christian
Burial will be celebrated on Monday at
9:15 AM at St. Benedict’s Church, 1317
Eggert at Main, Amherst, NY 14226.
Please assemble at church. In lieu of
flowers, memorials may be made to the
Parkinson’s Disease Research Fund
at University at Buffalo, 503 Capen
Hall, Buffalo, NY 14260 or http://giving.
buffalo.edu/giveto/933341682501, in
memory of Mary Vinal. Condolences at
www.thedietrichfuneralhome.com May 1, 1941 – Dec. 4, 2019

Mary E. Vinal, a substitute teacher at Williamsville’s Heim Elementary School, died Dec. 4 in her Eggertsville home after a 15-year struggle with Parkinson’s disease. She was 78.

Born in Buffalo, the former Mary E. Straubinger was second of four children and the daughter of Victor F. Straubinger, a contractor who built many apartment complexes, as well as the University Manor Motel and Sheridan Manor Nursing Home.

She grew up in Eggertsville and attended St. Benedict’s School and Nardin Academy, where she graduated in 1958 and was president of the senior class. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in education at Rosary Hill College, now Daemen College.

While at Rosary Hill, she met Eugene Vinal, who came to their home to go on a date with her sister. They were married in 1962.

After a year in the New York City area, where their first child was born, she and her husband returned to the Buffalo area. When her children were finishing college, she earned a master’s degree in education at the University at Buffalo. She was a regular substitute teacher at Heim Elementary School and taught full-time for a year at St. Benedict’s School.

She enjoyed running, cooking and gardening.

In addition to her husband, who was business manager for several small firms and parking manager at UB, survivors include a son, Gregory; a daughter, Mary Lynn Illos; a sister, Carol Straubinger; a brother, Paul Straubinger; and five grandchildren.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 9:15 a.m. Monday, Dec. 9, in St. Benedict’s Catholic Church, 1317 Eggert Road at Main Street, Eggertsville.