SUNBURY -- Mary Brown, 88, was known around Sunbury for her two 65-pound concrete ducks on her front porch. Mary dressed the ducks for every occasion for the past 15 years. Her family says they were her prized possessions.
"We have probably 50 different outfits which she enjoyed changing every couple of days. It brought happiness to her and it brought happiness to the kids and the adults of Sunbury," said Mary's daughter, Bridgette Staffaroni.
Staffaroni says those two ducks were stolen from Mary's front porch earlier this week. Then, Mary passed away Thursday morning after a long battle with cancer. Mary's daughter says she promised her mother she would continue her tradition of changing the ducks' clothes, but now she can't.
"That's pretty bad when the quality of life like she was, not very good. And then have this on top of it, that's just terrible," said neighbor Dean VonBlohn.
While it may sound silly to some to talk about ducks at a time like this, Mary's family says people drove by daily to see what the ducks were wearing and they had outfits for every occasion.
"Any kind of day it was, she would change the ducks to match the day," Staffaroni said.
Even though the street is technically Line Street, the family says the ducks were so popular with local children, they nicknamed it Ducky Hill.
"For the seasons they'd be dressed up and stuff and it's just a shame someone stole them," said neighbor Dave Malick.
Neighbors told Newswatch 16 they are sad to hear about Mary's passing and angry about the stolen ducks. VonBlohn calls it a crime of the heart.
"I feel bad for the family. I feel bad for Mary who passed away and I feel bad for the people who did it because God sees everything. They'll have to answer for it someday," VonBlohn said.
Mary Brown's family is asking whoever took the ducks to bring them to the Sunbury police department, no questions asked. They just want to continue their mom's tradition of displaying the popular ducks on the porch and making people happy.
