Mary M. Robotti, born Mary Mathilda Ammann on New Year’s Day in 1923, passed peacefully on Feb. 11, 2021, at home surrounded by her family. Mary, daughter of Swiss immigrant parents Joseph Ammann and Agnes Ochsner Ammann, was born in Albany, WI, a baby sister for two older brothers. Within a few months, the family traveled by immigration train (half for family members, half for livestock and belongings) to their newly-purchased farm in Cazenovia. She walked 1 1/2 miles each way to a one room primary schoolhouse and, later, 1 1/2 miles to get to a high school bus. She planned to attend Morrisville State division of Cornell to study nutrition, but withdrew her application as the family had limited funds and she needed to work.
For the war effort, Mary was “Rosie the Riveter” in a defense plant for Curtis Wright airplanes in Syracuse where she…
