Muriel (Van Buskirk) Pendleton

Muriel Pendleton (Van Buskirk) of Pearl River passed away peacefully on the morning of Tuesday, February 28, surrounded by family. She was 69.

Her family called her Mimi, and nothing was more important to Mimi than her family. She will be dearly missed by her husband, Albert; daughters, Caitlin and Sherry Lee; son, Anthony (T.J.) Patla and wife, Kelly; mother, Madeline (Corcoran) Van Buskirk; sister, Kathleen (Van Buskirk) Murray and husband, James Murray; brother, John Van Buskirk and wife Roberta; brother Edgar Van Buskirk; grandchildren Nathan and Thomas Patla; nieces and nephews, Lisa Van Buskirk; James, Nicholas and Michael Murray; Meghan, Patrick, Daniel, John, Madeline and Joseph Walsh; and step-children Colleen (Pendleton) Scherer and Annie Pendleton.

Muriel was born on October 29, 1953, in Brooklyn, N.Y., daughter of Madeline (Corcoran) and Edgar Van Buskirk. She attended high school at Our Lady of Perpetual Help and held a career in Human Resources and cash controls at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce in New York City and AT&T in Berkeley Heights, N.J.

Muriel loved the beach and looked forward to annual trips to Wildwood, N.J., with her parents, young son, T.J., sisters Madeline and Kathleen and their eldest children, Meghan and Lisa.

Muriel and Albert married on October 10, 1988, and shared a love of music and cooking and a good sense of humor. They often hosted barbeques for family at their home in Scotch Plains, N.J., and enjoyed their life together.

Life changed forever when their miracle baby, Caitlin, was born and she stayed home to raise “the girls,” Caity and Sherry. She devoted her days to raising her family and went on to do court transcription work from home in the evenings. Staying connected to family was important to Muriel, and she took the opportunity to move her family to Pearl River, N.Y., in 1998 to live near her parents and sister Madeline.

A bookworm through and through, her shelves were lined with countless books, Stephen King, Dean Koontz and James Patterson among her favorite authors. When T.J. was young, they were often caught reading the same book at the same time, passing it back and forth until they were both finished. As the girls got older, they enjoyed watching true crime movies and reality TV together.

She loved to bake with her family and was known for baking the best Christmas cookies and giving away hundreds of them every year. She was generous with the recipes (and the cookies), but it was really her company and her cookies everyone was after. Her love of Christmas and extensive Christmas decorations were only rivaled by her sister Madeline’s.

Muriel also loved visiting her son’s family in Pennsylvania and being “Nana Mimi” to her two grandchildren.

She was a friend to everyone and had a huge heart; Muriel was known for standing up for what was right, caring about people and helping those who needed it most. Feisty and a true fighter, she beat cancer twice—participating in a chemotherapy clinical trial in the 1990s that went on to help countless other women. Last year she had her third encounter with cancer and fought courageously until the side effects from radiation became too much and she couldn’t fight anymore. That’s when her family fought for what she wanted so she could pass peacefully, surrounded by family. Even after her death, Muriel is helping two people restore their sight through cornea donation.

She is predeceased by her father, Edgar Van Buskirk; sister, Madeline (Van Buskirk) Walsh; and aunts Dolores, Muriel, Eileen and Ginger.

Visitation will be held on Friday, March 3, 2023, from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. at Wyman-Fisher Funeral Home, 100 Franklin Ave, Pearl River, N.Y., with a service at 8:30 p.m.

Memorial contributions may be made payable to the USO.

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