Mary Havey Scalf

Mary Havey Cline Scalf, 103, stepped into the presence of her Lord and Savior at 4:18 AM on October 29, 2019. She passed peacefully with her daughter, Mary, and son-in-law, David, by her side, listening to her favorite hymns. Mary was born April 10, 1916, in New York City. When she was three months old, she was placed in the New York Foundling Hospital, a Catholic orphanage. In 1922, the orphanage became overcrowded, and she was sent on the Orphan Train to Texas. The Orphan Train Movement was a supervised welfare program that transported orphaned and homeless children from crowded cities on the East Coast to foster homes in rural areas out West. The Orphan Trains operated between 1854 and 1929, relocating approximately 200,000 children. Mary was very proud of being an Orphan Train rider, and she shared her story with everyone she met. In her later years, she became involved with The Orphan Train Heritage Society of America and would speak at Orphan Train Rider reunions. At the time of her passing, there were an estimated 30 Orphan Train riders still alive, making Mary one of the last. Six-year-old Mary was welcomed into the home of Maria Frisch and her son, George, in Taylor, Texas – just outside of Austin. When Maria could no longer care for her, Mary moved in with George and his wife, Agnes. George and Agnes had three children of their own – Agnes, Bonnie, and Gretchen. Mary adored her sisters and helped care for them while she lived in their home. She learned to play the piano and loved to sing and dance. She was a member of the Choral Club at school and played softball, but her favorite activity was gymnastics – she loved to tumble and do flips and cartwheels. Mary graduated from Taylor High School in 1935. After leaving home, Mary worked as a waitress in many different cities across Texas. At one point, she worked in a cafe across from the Gunter Hotel in downtown San Antonio where she waited on country singer and actor Tex Ritter and saw President Harry S. Truman. While working in downtown Corpus Christi in the late 1940’s, Mary met the love of her life, Frank Valentine Cline (Dick). They were married in November 1951, and their only daughter, Mary Patrice Cline Albin, was born on October 15, 1952. Mary & Dick were happily married until his passing in April 1970. Six years later, she married Carl Avery Scalf, a longtime neighbor. They moved to Henderson, Texas and were married 25 years before he passed away in February 2001. In 1989, a law was passed which allowed Mary to request her records from the orphanage. When she received these records, she learned that her birth name was Marie Josephine Havey. Her mother, Edna Havey, had been unable to care for her, so she placed her in the New York Foundling Hospital. According to the Sisters of the New York Foundling Hospital, her mother, Edna, loved her very much and inquired about her often. Mary also learned that she had a younger brother, Francis Harvey, who was also placed in the New York Foundling Hospital by their mother. He was also a rider on the Orphan Train. Sadly, Francis passed away in 1967, so Mary never had the opportunity to meet her brother. However, in the summer of 1990, she traveled to San Francisco to meet his wife and son. In 2004, she moved to Mesquite, Texas to be closer to her daughter. Mary loved going to Goodbar Senior Center every day to play games with her friends – but she hated arts and crafts. She was a member of Oates Drive Baptist Church and enjoyed the Ladies Sunday School class. In 2016, Mary relocated again to Lindale, Texas with her daughter and son-in-law, David. Outside of her own daughter, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, Francis and his three children are the only blood relatives she ever learned of. Because of this, she thought of her many friends as her own family and treated them as such. She was incredibly proud of her family – blood or otherwise – and she loved them each dearly. Mary is remembered for her sweet spirit, positive outlook, and zest for life. She had a special way of making everyone she met feel important. Above all, Mary found joy in her Lord & Savior Jesus Christ. Mary is preceded in death by her husband, Frank Valentine Cline (Dick); her husband, Carl Avery Scalf; her birth mother, Edna Havey; her foster parents, George & Agnes Frisch; her brother, Francis Harvey; and her sister, Bonnie Frisch Wood She is survived by her daughter, Mary Cline Albin; her son-in-law, David Paul Albin; her grandson, James Ryan Miller; her granddaughter, Rachel Marie Albin; her two great-granddaughters, Fiona Leigh & Evelyn Rose Miller; her sisters, Agnes Frisch & Gretchen Frisch Kuempel; numerous nieces, nephews, and other family members she held dear. Visitation will be held at New Hope Funeral Home in Sunnyvale, Texas, on Monday, November 4, 2019 at 12:30 PM, immediately followed by funeral services at 2:00 PM. Interment will be at Rose Hill Memorial Park in Corpus Christi, Texas, on Wednesday, November 6, 2019 at 2:30 PM. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you honor Mary’s memory with a donation in her name to your church or to the National Orphan Train Complex in Concordia, Kansas.