Mary was born to Irish immigrants, Mary (Holland) and Patrick Joseph Mahony on September 17, 1935. She grew up in South Boston and Somerville, Massachusetts - graduating high school from Mount St. Joseph’s Academy, Brighton, MA in 1953. She went on to work for Massachusetts Bell Telephone until 1963. She met the love of her life, Tom Desmond, through a blind date arranged by mutual friends, Bill and Kathy McLeod. They married on May 26th, 1962 and began a family with the birth of their first child, Mary, in 1963. Between then and 1978 they had Holly, Julie, and Daniel. In 1978, the family relocated from Hyde Park, MA to Sparta, NJ, where they spent many happy years as members of the Lake Mohawk Community - and especially Marine Beach #3, where many happy memories were made on Hilltop Trail. Mary was fond of reading, Masterpiece Theater, crossword puzzles, sports of all types, birdwatching, gardening, whale watching off the coast of MA, and traveling. She traveled extensively throughout Ireland, with her sisters Peg, Pat, and dear brother in law, Ken, researching family history and enjoying the Irish countryside, and a pint of Guinness with the many cousins they would visit.
She was also fortunate enough to spend many happy visits with daughter Julie and family, when they were stationed in Germany. She loved the Tuscan countryside and Malta, among many other countries. One of her favorite pastimes was to tour the many battle sites of WWI and WWII, with her personal tour guide and dear son in law, Col. Matthew Morton. They were two peas in a pod when it came to history. It was this love of history that led her to enroll in the early 1990s in several history classes at SCCC.
Mary was pre-deceased by her parents, and in March of 2003 by her loving husband, Thomas A. Desmond. Mary was the eldest of four children, being pre-deceased by sisters Margaret “Peg” Hynes (Kenneth), Patricia “Pat” McMillan (Bill), and brother James “Jim” Mahony, and sisters in law, Jeanne Butler, and Kathryn Ryan.
She is survived by her children, Mary Mongiello (Bartolomeo), of Pompton Plains, NJ, Holly van Voorst (Robert), of Sparta, NJ, Julie Morton (Matthew), of Carlisle, PA, and Daniel, of Charlotte, NC. She is also survived by her beloved grandchildren, Kathryn (Michelle) and Bridget van Voorst, John (Kayse), Gillian, and Ainsley Morton, Mary Mongiello, and Fionnuala and Ronan Desmond, and a host of nieces and nephews and dear brothers in law, Ken Hynes, and Ken Butler.
Visitation will be on Saturday, April 24th from 9:30am - 11:30am at Goble Funeral Home 22 Main St., Sparta, NJ 07871.. Private family interment to follow.
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