Mary Margaret Eick (Goulden)

Mary Margaret (nee Goulden) Eick, matriarch and beloved daughter, wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, aunt and friend, passed away peacefully on October 6, 2022 at the age of 98. Born in Adams County, Pennsylvania to John and Ethel (Overholtzer) Goulden on November 17, 1923, Mary was the oldest of seven children. She is predeceased by her husband Michael Eick, her son Ronald Eick, her daughters, Kathleen James and Teresa Whittle, and her siblings John David Goulden, James William “Bill” Goulden, Joseph “Gene” Goulden and Dorothy Zink. She is survived by her siblings Anna Mae Gross and Norbert Goulden; her children Joseph Eick and his wife Caroline, Janet Eisen, Dolores Coffey and her husband Wayne, James Eick, and son-in-law Earl James; her grandchildren, Emmanuel, Timothy, Laura, Kathryn, Allyson, Daniel, Jeffrey, Randall, David, Melissa, Kelly and Francesca and her 13 great-grandchildren. She’s also been an adopted mother, confidant and caretaker for countless other nieces, nephews, in-laws, church members and friends.

Daughter of a sharecropper, Mary grew up in extreme poverty during the Great Depression, but described a happy childhood with her brothers and sisters. Mary left school in the sixth grade to help provide for her family when her mother grew ill. At eighteen, she moved to Baltimore for work and settled there. When World War II started, Mary supported the war effort by working as a welder at a shipyard by day and volunteering as a nurse’s aide by night.

Mary met her husband, Michael, at a church dance, and they were married when she was twenty-five. While their children were growing up, Mary and Michael started a family florist business, Overlea Florist, and Mary discovered a talent for arranging. Mary continued to work at local shops around Baltimore and spread joy with her beautiful flower arrangements well into her nineties.

Steadfast in her faith, Mary spent close to eighty years as a devout parishioner at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church in Overlea, where her husband was a member of the Secular Franciscan Order.

Mary lived independently at home until the last days of her life, still wielding a razor sharp memory and a gentle sense of humor. She loved a good meal, a cup of coffee, a Ravens win and catching up with whomever she was sitting beside. Most of all she loved people. Once questioned about what she considered her greatest accomplishment over nearly ten decades, Mary answered, “my family”

Visiting at the Lassahn Funeral Home, Inc. 7401 Belair Road in Overlea on Tuesday, October 11, 2022 from 2-5 & 7-9 PM. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at St. Michael the Archangel Church on Wednesday, October 12, 2022 at 10:00 AM. Interment Most Holy Redeemer Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks donations to be sent to Atlantic General Hospital Palliative Care Program. Donations can be made online at www.agh.care/give by choosing “other” for gift and writing Palliative Care in the comment box, or by mail addressed to Atlantic General Hospital Foundation, 10320 Old Ocean City Boulevard, Berlin, MD 21811.