Mary Ann Hornung was remembered as being “a very good person, who cared about people and who was also good to work for.”

Mrs. Hornung died Sept. 28 at age 85.

Kevin Gentile worked for Mrs. Hornung and her husband, Emerson “Butch” Hornung, for 10 years in junior and high school and as he worked his way through college.

“She really cared about people,” Gentile said. “I could pretty much call my hours if I had exams coming up.”

He said his father, Jim, worked for more than 30 years as a butcher for Hornung Brothers Meats. Kevin Gentile said there were times that Mrs. Hornung would cook a roast and feed people at the shop. Gentile said the Hornungs’ kindness extended to people who needed help and were given free groceries; as well as to his father, when he needed open-heart surgery and Mr. Hornung continued to pay him while he was out for eight weeks.

“They did that for everyone because they cared about their workers,” Gentile said.

“Every time I go through Lindenwald, I remember how packed and busy we were on Saturdays,” Gentile said. “They cared a lot about people.”

Frank Downie, a longtime Lindenwald resident, said the small corner markets and the butcher shops were very popular in the neighborhood.

“It was the place to go for meat on Friday and Saturday,” he said. “It was a mini town reunion.”

People from other areas of the city came to Hornung’s market because they knew the family “and they knew they were getting butcher shop quality meat,” Downie said.

“There was nothing bad you could say about them,” he said. “They were really nice people.”

Mr. Hornung described his wife as a person who loved children and whatever that needed to be done, “it got done.”

Mr. and Mrs. Hornung ran the family business, Hornung Brothers Meats on Williams Avenue in Lindenwald from 1979 to 1988, when they sold the business. The business was founded by Mr. Hornung’s father, who started it working off a horse and wagon in Fairfield. He opened the meat store in 1925 in Lindenwald.

“We had a real good business,” he said. “She worked on the meat side of the business and ran the cash register.”

He said Mrs. Hornung was a very good baker and “when she cooked, it would always be for 25 people even though there would only be five people to feed.”

“She always said, ‘if you got good food in your stomach, you won’t need to smoke or drink,’ ” he said.

“She always liked to decorate at home and everything matched,” Mr. Hornung said. “She always believed that everything should be in its place and that it should be clean.”

Visitation is slated for 5 to 8 p.m. today at Brown-Dawson-Flick Funeral Home, 1350 Millville Ave. A Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Julie Billiart Catholic Church, 224 Dayton St., with the Rev. Mike Pucke as the celebrant. Burial will follow in Rose Hill Burial Park.