Plan for the Future
Mary Eileen Moriarty, 88, of Summit, NJ passed away at her home surrounded by family members and loving caregivers on October 9, 2019.
Born in Orange, NJ on February 2, 1931, Eileen was the daughter of Dr. Francis and Marion (Murray) McCarthy. Along with her sister Joan, she was raised in Bloomfield. Eileen attended grammar school and high school at Lacordaire Academy in Montclair until her graduation in 1947 and then went on to receive her B.A. in English from Rosemont College in Rosemont, PA in 1951.
During a summer break from college at the Jersey Shore, Eileen met her future husband, Donald Moriarty, on the boardwalk in Sea Girt. After graduating from Rosemont, Eileen taught English at St. Alloysius Academy in Jersey City. She married Don in January 1955 and, after their wedding, lived and taught briefly in San Antonio, TX while her new husband served in the United States Army. The couple subsequently moved back to New Jersey and lived in Bloomfield, Montclair and Glen Ridge before moving to Summit in 1967.
Eileen raised her seven children in Summit where she and the entire family thrived as busy and engaged citizens of “the best small city in America.” A parishioner at St. Teresa of Avila for more than fifty years, she served actively as a Eucharistic Minister, a leading Right of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) volunteer and a CCD instructor. Eileen was a strong supporter of many charitable organizations and educational institutions and a passionate advocate for human life and the developmentally disabled. In 1982, as a Confirmation teacher, she and her students initiated what is now the Summit Luminary Fund project which began Summit’s tradition of selling luminaries to light up neighborhood streets on Christmas Eve with the proceeds being distributed to charity.
Eileen was known for her kindness, charm, humility, and silly sense of humor. Always game for anything at any time, Eileen took up skiing, tennis, golf and running after the last of her seven children was born. Beyond that, she enjoyed the noble and exquisite routines of doing errands (endlessly), cooking meals (adequately), completing the New York Times Crossword Puzzle (in pen), nightly gin martinis (dry with olives) and lots, and lots of laughs, hoots and giggles (with everyone). But perhaps her greatest and simplest joy was being wife to Don, mother to seven, grandmother to twenty-five and, most recently, great-grandmother to one.
During her final years, Eileen remained a pillar and model of faith, strength, and resiliency as she battled fiercely and accepted graciously the dementia and Alzheimer’s that gripped her body. By the grace of God, her plight was soothed and her spirits lifted throughout by an extraordinary group of caregivers and nurses whose love and care for Eileen saw no boundary. Eileen was an angel (and still is) while Fanny, Claire, Nora, Lilia, Lucy, Delia, Signe, Linda, Lori, Allison, and Cathy are living saints.
Eileen is survived by her seven children, Donald (Carolyn), Elizabeth McDevitt (Tom), Michael (Leslie), Robert (Lisa), Eileen Moriarty (John Skakel), Mary Jean Moriarty, and Timothy (Melissa) and their beloved families.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at St. Teresa of Avila Church, 306 Morris Avenue in Summit on Friday, October 18th at 10:45am. Interment will follow at St. Teresa Cemetery. Friends are invited to visitation at Bradley, Brough & Dangler Funeral Home, 299 Morris Ave. in Summit on Thursday from 2:00 to 4:00 and 6:00 to 8:00pm.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Eileen’s memory may be made to Our House (76 Floral Avenue #1511, New Providence, NJ 07974) or Saint Vincent Academy (228 Market Street, Newark NJ 07103).
