Plan for the Future
***Click here to view the Memorial Mass
livestream at 9:30am Sat, 5/22***
Mary Beth Driscoll was born in Rochester, NY, on December 29, 1961, the third of five children to Patricia and Norman Driscoll. The family relocated to Chatham, NJ in 1973. Mary Beth attended Chatham Township High School and, a gifted athlete, she graduated in 1980 with multiple athletic honors and multiple field hockey State Championships.
Mary Beth attended Lock Haven University (PA) and graduated in 1984 with a teaching degree in Health and Physical Education. She was named All American for her lacrosse accomplishments during her college career.
Upon graduation, Mary Beth settled back in Chatham with her first teaching job at her beloved CTHS. While in Chatham, she volunteered for the Chatham Emergency Squad, worked in youth ministry, and taught religious education at Corpus Christi Catholic Parish.
Mary Beth’s teaching tenure expanded to West Essex High School and then Hunterdon Central High School, both in New Jersey.
During those years she earned a Master of Education, coached field hockey, basketball, lacrosse, and (to everyone’s surprise, even her own) bowling. Mary Beth also served as a Field Hockey referee, making her the first, if not the only, person to participate as a player, coach, and referee in New Jersey State Championship Field Hockey games.
Mary Beth’s passion for the whole of her adult life was golf. She was a championship golfer who enjoyed playing with beginners and low handicappers alike. Mary Beth laughed as freely on the golf course as she did everywhere in her life, yet the competitor in her was always able to keep focused on the game. Even as a skilled golfer, Mary Beth loved her time as caddy to her siblings. Toward the end of her life she made it a goal to golf in every state, and was able to achieve more than half that goal. Her family and friends assured her they plan on finishing that quest for her.
Mary Beth loved spending time with friends and family, and considered everyone to be a friend at the introduction. Her smile and laughter were contagious and her humor and love for life filled any space she entered. She was proud of being a teacher and coach, loved her students and athletes, and knew that she was making a difference through her profession.
Mary Beth fought the good fight against Multiple Myeloma and maintained her bright optimistic spirit throughout. In the end, she died peacefully at home surrounded by a loving family, anticipating her blessed reunion with family and friends who preceded her.
Her dimpled smile will stay with us forever.
Mary Beth was served by a remarkable medical team, including Dan Vogl, MD, at the Abramson Cancer Center Clinical Research Unit at Penn Medicine, and Sarah R.Goodyear, MD, Alliance Cancer Specialists, PC at Doylestown Hospital in Pennsylvania. The compassionate and brilliant nursing staff, whom she grew to know as family over the years, were a beloved light in her treatment.
In lieu of flowers, Mary Beth has requested friends and family contribute to The Multiple Myeloma Foundation by clicking here or by mail to The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, P.O. Box 414238, Boston, MA 02241-4238 or to the Felicia A. Leon-Driscoll Scholarship Fund at the Community Foundation of St. Joseph County by clicking here.
A Memorial Mass will be celebrated a Corpus Christi Church, 234 Southern Blvd. in Chatham on Saturday, May 22nd at 9:30am. For those who can’t attend, it will be livestreamed at the above referenced link. Relatives and friends are invited to visit at Wm. A. Bradley & Son Funeral Home, 345 Main St. in Chatham on Friday from 5 to 9pm. Due to the COVIC-19 pandemic restrictions, you MUST reserve your time by using the Sign Up Genius link above.
