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Mary Antonette Draeger of Hillsborough died Oct. 22 after a lengthy battle with lung cancer. She was 82.
For 56 years Ms. Draeger was married to Frank Draeger, founder of Menlo Park’s popular Draeger’s market. Mr. Draeger died July 2, 2005.
She shared her husband’s love of fine food and cooking, creating many of the recipes used by Draeger’s today.
The eldest of nine children, she was born in San Francisco to Dr. Anthony and Genevieve Diepenbrock.
She attended Notre Dame Elementary in Belmont and Convent of the Sacred Heart in San Francisco, and graduated from the University of California, Berkeley.
She married Francis Jean Draeger on September 18, 1948. They resided in Hillsborough for nearly 60 years.
Ms. Draeger was a remarkably strong and charitable woman, say family members. She often could be found serving food to the poor, traveling to Lourdes, France, with the sick, or organizing fundraising events, all the while raising a family of 10 children.
Regardless of her cancer diagnosis, she appeared invincible, say family members, surviving for nearly two years with late-stage lung cancer and continuing to meet all her social and charitable obligations until only the last few months of her life.
Ms. Draeger volunteered for, and otherwise supported many charitable organizations: St. Bartholomew Church in San Mateo, the St. Vincent de Paul Society of San Mateo County, the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, and the Hillsborough Auxiliary of the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco.
She was a member of the Confrerie de la Chaine des Rotisseurs, and an active alumna of Gamma Phi Beta Sorority.
She is survived by her 10 children: John of Los Altos Hills, Clotilde Lockwood of San Mateo, Anthony of Menlo Park, James of Belvedere, Richard of Woodside, Patrick of Sonoma, Peter of Portola Valley, Mary Claire DeSoto of Redwood City, Rebecca Peters of San Carlos, and Joany Draeger of Redwood City; and 22 grandchildren.
She is also survived by siblings Anthony B. Diepenbrock of San Mateo, Claire Diepenbrock of San Francisco, Florence Stronck of Union City, Michael Diepenbrock of Santa Rosa, and Patricia Hargarten of San Francisco. She was preceded in death by her husband, Frank Draeger, and sister Rebecca Del Santo.
Donations in honor of Ms. Draeger may be sent to St. Barthomew Church, 300 Alameda de las Pulgas, San Mateo, CA 94402; the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Greater Bay Area Chapter, 49 Stevenson St., Suite 1200, San Francisco, CA 94105-2974; or to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, 50 North B St., San Mateo, CA 94401. Please note that the gift is in Ms. Draeger’s memory.
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