Brenna M. Flaherty

Brenna M. Flaherty (née Hyland) of Wellesley, MA, passed away on Oct. 28, 2017 at the age of 81. Beloved wife of the late Richard G. Flaherty and devoted mother of Sue Flaherty (Framingham, MA), Richard Flaherty (West Palm Beach, FL) and his wife Nina Dimagiba, Kathleen Flaherty (Beverly Hills, CA), Linda Flaherty Haltmaier (Andover, MA) and her husband Richard Haltmaier, and Joanne Norcross (Marblehead, MA) and her husband Derek Norcross. Loving grandmother to Mitchell, Jennifer, and Richard ‘Gil’ Norcross; and Rory Brenna Haltmaier.

Brenna will be remembered for her quick wit, powerful tennis serve, and legendary chocolate chip cookies. She graduated from Emmanuel College with a B.S. in Mathematics and Physics and worked on some of the earliest computers in the 1950’s. After raising her five children in Wellesley, she became a real estate agent for Hunneman Coldwell Banker. She enjoyed playing tennis and golf with her friends, interior decorating, travelling, and spending time with her children and grandchildren.

She is survived by siblings Robert Hyland (Falmouth, MA), Deborah Hyland (Mashpee, MA), Mary-Ellen Batchelor (St. Louis, MO), Thomas Hyland (MA), and the late George Hyland and Anne-Cecile Hyland.

Visiting hours will be held at the Eustis and Cornell Funeral Home, 142 Elm Street, Marblehead on Wednesday, November 1 from 4-8PM. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at Our Lady Star of the Sea Church, 85 Atlantic Avenue on Thursday, November 2 at 10AM. A private burial next to her husband Richard will be in St. Mary’s Cemetery in Wellesley at a later time. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, P.O. Box 5014, Hagerstown, MD, 21741 or online at MichaelJFox.org.