Introduction
MRS. MARIE E. SIMON was born in Camden around 1890. Her maiden name was Marie Kenney. She lived much of her adult life on Fogarty Avenue, reputed to be the shortest and narrowest street in the country at one time. Fogarty Avenue ran between 9th and 10th Streets from Federal to Carman Streets, approximately where the Camden Police Department parking lot is today.
Marie Simon was known in the neighborhood for her generosity. Called “The Mayor of Fogarty Avenue,” she was well known to Camden’s newspapermen in the 30’s and 40s, and an active member of the Ladies Auxiliary, American Legion Post 231, the Saranac Council 79, Order of Pocahontas IORM, and the Women’s Order of the Moose, Chapter 385, in Camden.
Marie Simon passed away at West Jersey Hospital on February 24, 1959. After a funeral at the Robert Blake Funeral Home on Haddon Avenue and Mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception at Broadway and Market Streets, she was buried at Calvary Cemetery in what is now Cherry Hill NJ. She was survived by a son, Thomas, and three brothers.
Mrs. Marie E. Simon Dies at 68; Beloved ‘Mayor of Fogarty Ave.’
Camden Courier-Post —
‘Mame’ Always Good for Handout
Friend of an earlier generation of newspapermen, Mrs. Marie E. Simon, 68, of 20 Fogarty ave., died Tuesday in West Jersey Hospital.
To the survivors of that generation, Mrs. Simon was known as “Mame Kenney,” her maiden name. And the neighborhood dubbed her the “Mayor of Fogarty Ave.”
There wasn’t any wrong in her domain that Mame didn’t try to set right, either by arbitration, a call to City Hall, or to a newspaper. And Mame’s heart was as big as her voice which boomed in no uncertain terminology when things didn’t go right.
Mame in the Middle
Fogarty ave. is a block of brick row houses running from Federal to Carman st. between 9th and 10th sts. The residents can shake hands across the street and it’s strictly one-way traffic — either way. Everybody knows everybody else’s troubles and Mame stood right in the middle of them.
Mame liked newspapermen, she said, because they “could give me a slant on what’s going on.” It was a red letter day when she could invite them in for coffee and a sandwich, or a drink, and get the latest gossip on City Hall. She had decided ideas on politics, and reporters found grist for copy in her shrewd observations.
Generous Heart
Mame’s generous heart extended to the down-and-outer and the bottle-ganger. A knock on her door always brought a hand-out of food, a piece of clothing and perhaps the price of a drink.
Mrs. Simon was a lifelong resident of Camden. She was a member of Women’s Order of the Moose, Chapter 385; Saranac Council, 79, Order of Pocahontas, IORM; and American Legion Post 231, Auxiliary.
Surviving are a son, Thomas J., of Laurel Springs; three brothers, Thomas P., and James J. Kenney, of Camden and Martin F. Kenney, of Moorestown, and two grandchildren.
Relatives and friends will meet at 8:30 a. m. Friday in the Robert J. Blake Funeral Home, Haddon ave. and 5th st. Requiem high Mass will be celebrated at 9:30 o’clock in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. A viewing will be held Thursday night at the funeral home. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery.
Fogarty Avenue, 1926
Fogarty Avenue, 1926 — home of Marie E. Simon for much of her life.